David Neilson Tobey Jr.

David Neilson Tobey, Jr. was born in Evanston, Illinois on October 24, 1945. He was raised in the northern suburbs of Chicago until 1960 when his family moved to Dallas, TX. David attended Hillcrest High School, and in 1967, David graduated from the University of Texas with a Bachelor of Arts in Zoology. In 1966, while in school, he married Wesley Graves Rogers. Together they moved to Galveston where he earned his medical degree at the University of Texas Medical Branch. Dr. David Tobey completed his internship in Boston and residency in general surgery and otolaryngology at the University of Washington in Seattle. There, they had two children, Meredith and Paul, while he served the US military in the US Public Health Service, Commissioned Corps.

After finishing his residency, David returned to Texas with his family where he continued his public service at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in Clear Lake. It was there he was in line for training to become an astronaut, but his career in medicine won out when he moved his family to open his medical practice in Northwest Austin in 1981. Concurrently, he was a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Otolaryngology at UTMB in Galveston for 18 years.

David went on to stay in practice for 43 years. He had just retired in the fall of 2024, but he was not waiting until retirement to live a full and beautiful life. In 1980, he took his first trip to Europe. It started a tradition of family trips every summer traveling throughout the world. Italy was usually the main event, but at his family’s encouragement, he visited many other countries including Thailand, China, Tanzania, Kenya, Russia, etc., with his assorted cameras, lenses, and video devices in tow.

After 36 years of marriage, Wesley passed away in 2002 and David thought life as he knew it was over. It was not long after she died, he was fortunate to reconnect with Dr. Michelle Berger, a fellow friend through Austin Opera and colleague. They discovered their shared love of music and travel and merged their families together at their wedding in August of 2004. They continued travelling the world and, affectionately known as Nonno and Yaya, always prioritized visiting their grandchildren for birthdays, sporting events, holidays, and graduations.

With Michelle, he was active in the community serving on the Austin Opera board as a founding member, the Austin Symphony, and the Rotary Club of Austin University Area. David travelled with Austin Smiles to Mexico to perform cleft palate surgeries on children in need. He was also a member of the American Medical Association, Texas Medical Association, and Travis County Medical Society.

David was the consummate Renaissance man. He was an inventor, an artist, a photographer, an avid astronomer, and he loved a good pun, and not so good ones, too. He took notes and made lists and dreamed of future travel and inventions for decades to come. His nickname to many was “Dr. Wonderful”. Always patient and kind, he took time to solve any problem. His famous quote was, “All you need to fix anything are the tools and the time.”

David died from a sudden cardiac event on May 2, 2025. He will be tremendously missed by his family, his colleagues, and his patients. He was preceded in death by his parents, David Neilson Tobey, Sr. and Harriet Louise Frederickson Tobey, and his wife, Wesley Graves Rogers Tobey, PhD. He is survived and will be lovingly remembered by his wife Michelle Ann Berger, M.D. of Austin, his daughter, Meredith Beebe and son-in-law, Brian Beebe of Houston, his grandson, Austin Beebe of Kansas City, Mo., his granddaughter, Adele Beebe of Austin; his son, Paul Tobey of Houston; his stepdaughters, Meredith and Nick Smith and their sons, Everett and Landon of Dallas; Melissa and John Farleigh and their children, John and Madeline of Prineville, OR; and Amanda and Mike Brown and their children, Marianne and Connor of Dallas; his brother, Bruce Tobey of Dallas, and his sisters, Kathey Beddow and her husband, Bruce of Dallas, and Barbara Williams of Mabank, TX.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Austin Opera (austinopera.org) or Texas Medical Association Foundation. (texmed.org/TMAF/), or The Rotary Club, (austinuniversityrotary.org).