Dr. Arthur L. Doenecke

He was born in Brooklyn, NY on November 7, 1939 and was the only child of the late Arthur Maxwell Doenecke and Veronica (Kenefick) Doenecke of Eagle Grove, IA and Brooklyn, NY.

Dr. Doenecke graduated from the Loyola School in New York, and received his B.A. in English Literature from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA in 1961. He served as medical corpsman in the New York Air National Guard while completing his premedical courses at Columbia University. He received his M.D. degree from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1972. He interned at the Lancaster General Hospital in Lancaster, PA and remained on the medical staff in the departments of Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine for 23 years. He met his wife, Norma (Shields) Doenecke in 1978 and they have spent the last 39 years together.

They moved to Eagle Grove, IA in 1995, living in Arthur’s grandfather’s house where he spent many happy summers as a child visiting his mother’s family. He worked as a locum tenens physician in the clinics in Eagle Grove, Clarion, Humboldt, and Britt. He and Norma spent their winters in their condominium in Key West and Key Colony Beach, FL.

In 2007, Dr. Doenecke was a visiting physician at the University of Iowa Hospital in the Family Medicine Department. In recent years, Dr. Doenecke was a Board Member of the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, served on the Polk County Republican Central Committee, and was a delegate to several recent Republican State Conventions. He was a member of the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in West Des Moines, and the American Legion Post 633 in Urbandale.

He is survived by his loving and devoted wife of 39 years, and several cousins in Iowa, Minnesota, and Florida. He is also survived by his sister-in-law, Kate Palmer of Sydney, Australia, two nephews and their wives, plus two grand nephews.

When Dr. Doenecke passed into the hands of the Lord, he was Chairman of the First Holy Cross All-Class Reunion in Iowa to celebrate the college’s 175th Anniversary. He will be there in spirit.

Mass of the Resurrection will be 10:30 am on Friday, September 28 at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in West Des Moines. Visitation will begin at 9:30 am until mass begins. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to the Loyola School in New York or St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church.