Memorial for Reggie Stambaugh Class of 1947







R. Stambaugh, 77, fought to save historical buildings
By ANTIGONE BARTON
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Dr. Reginald J. Stambaugh knew that memories make history and history makes a place. Still, the fifth-generation Floridian, who fought to save and restore buildings that distinguish Palm Beach County, said what mattered most to him was faith, then his family and then his work.

Dr. Stambaugh died Saturday at home, five months after having a stroke. The first baby born in Palm Beach County in 1930, he was 77.
An ophthalmologist, he worked almost to the end of his life, with a full roster of patients lined up for the next day when he fell ill in July.
His pioneer family was among the first to settle in Palm Beach County, his daughter Joette Keen said. Buildings still stand commemorating family members' lives and endeavors here - including one of the area's first hotels, once owned by a maternal ancestor, now an assisted living facility on Rosemary Avenue in downtown West Palm Beach. Dr. Stambaugh attended Palm Beach High School, where he ran track and played football - and first violin - graduating in 1947. He graduated from the University of Florida, then the University of Miami Medical School, and served his internship and residency at Emory University. A founding chairman of the Eye and Ear Alert screening program locally and past president of the Palm Beach County Medical Society, he contributed to medical advancement on a national level as well, inventing a surgical needle and serving as first president and chairman of the Ophthalmic Mutual Insurance Co.

He led the fight to save the buildings of Palm Beach High School, which were built in 1908 and stand today as the Dreyfoos School of the Arts. President of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County and of the Historical Foundation of Palm Beach County, he also worked to establish a historical museum in the 1916 Palm Beach County Courthouse. Dr. Stambaugh is survived by his wife of 42 years, Carolyn Stroupe Stambaugh; a son, Reginald G. Stambaugh; three daughters, Joette Keen, Valerie Robbins and Melanie Trewyn; nine grandchildren; and a brother, Gleason N. Stambaugh Jr.





Family-Placed Obituary

REGINALD J. STAMBAUGH, M.D. On December 15, 2007, Reginald J. Stambaugh, M.D., passed away at his home in Palm Beach, Florida shortly before his 78th birthday. By his side was his wife of 42 years, Carolyn Stroupe Stambaugh. In 1930 the Post reported Dr. Stambaugh as the first baby born in Palm Beach County. He was a fifth generation south Floridian whose pioneer family was one of the first residents of Palm Beach, where his great- grandfather's house still stands facing Lake Worth. In 1947 he graduated from Palm Beach High School, where he was first chair in violin and excelled in track and football. He graduated from the University of Florida and the University of Miami Medical School, where he was class President, and studied later at Emory University for his internship and residency. Dr. Stambaugh contributed to medicine throughout his life. His invention of the triple needle for surgical use was acclaimed by the medical profession to which he donated the instrument. In 1987 he was the first President and Chairman of the Board of the newly founded Opthalmic Mutual Insurance Company (OMIC), underwritten by Lloyds of London, to provide insurance to opthalmologists throughout the country. Dr. Stambaugh also served on the board for the American Academy of Opthalmology and was a life member. David Noonan, the Deputy Vice President of the American Academy of Opthalmology states, “The quality of leadership was driven by the strength of his character.” He was President of the Florida Society of Opthalmology and listed in Who's Who in America. He also served as an editor to the Opthalmology Times. In 1978, he was the first place recipient of the American Medical Association's Physician Speakers Television Award. He was a past president of the Palm Beach County Medical Society, and he was the founding chairman of the “Eye and Ear Alert” screening program locally. Dr. Stambaugh had a passion for preserving history. Noting that Palm Beach High School, built in 1908,“was really a definitive part of the community,” he led the fight to save the school buildings, now known as the Dreyfoos School of the Arts. He was the Historical Society of Palm Beach County President from 1995-98 and also a past president of the Historical Foundation of Palm Beach County, whose mission was to establish a historical museum in the 1916 Palm Beach County Courthouse. Dr. Stambaugh's strong faith propelled him to service in both volunteer positions outside of and within the church. He served on the vestry of Bethesda-by-the Sea among other lay ministerial positions. Dr. Stambaugh also served in the United States Air Force during the Korean War. He was a member of the Bath and Tennis Club and the Society of the Four Arts. He is survived by his wife and four children, Reginald G. Stambaugh, Joette Keen, Valerie Robbins, and Melanie Trewyn; his nine grandchildren; and his brother Gleason N. Stambaugh, Jr. Funeral Services will be held at 3:00 PM on Thursday, December 20th, 2007 at Bethesda by the Sea Episcopal Church 141 South County Road, Palm Beach, FL 33480. Interment services will be held privately. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to The Rehabilitation Center For Children and Adults, 300 Royal Palm Way, Palm Beach, Florida 33480.
Quattlebaum Funeral & Cremation ServicesFamily Owned and Operatedwww.quattlebaum.org To express condolences and/or make donations Visit PalmBeachPost.com/obituaries Published in The Palm Beach Post on 12/18/2007.





TRUE TO HIS SCHOOL
By?Jan Tuckwood
Palm Beach?Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 20, 2007

This story is for all the students who stroll the stately corridors and skip up the old wood stairs at?Dreyfoos?School?of the Arts.
Listen, children: Your school is there because one man loved it so much he rallied his friends to save it.
? That man - Reggie Stambaugh, Palm Beach High School Class of 1947 - died on Saturday. And though he had a prominent career as a local eye doctor and inventor, his gift to history was his own vision: That Palm Beach High School should live on.
Dr. Stambaugh knew that the intangible things in life - love, friendship, the carefree dreams of youth - are infused in the tangible things.
Especially one tangible, old thing: His alma mater, the grand "School on the Hill" that was built in the boom-era 1920s in West Palm Beach, just to the north of Central School, built in 1908, and the old junior high school.
When integration arrived with the 1970-71 school year, Palm Beach High became?Twin?Lakes?High School. That's when Dr. Stambaugh and other alumni, including the late Bobby Riggs (Class of 1943), gathered up all the school trophies and yearbooks and decided the school needed a museum. (Today, the Palm Beach High School Museum is housed on Flagler Drive in a funky, little structure with a cone-shaped roof that has a distinctive history of its own: It was moved from Palm Beach to West Palm Beach in 1897.)
Twin?Lakes?closed in 1987, and by the early 1990s, the school board wanted to bulldoze it. It would have been cheaper to build a new school than restore the old ones.
But the powers-that-be underestimated the power of memories.
Dr. Stambaugh said: "No, you're not going to tear down our heritage." You're not going to tear down the place where he played first-chair violin or ran track or met his lifelong sweetheart, Carolyn.
You're not going to tear down the school that nurtured '50s-era athletes Burt Reynolds and Dick Howser and so many other famous folks, like two Florida Supreme Court chief justices (E. Harris Drew, Class of '21, and Stephen C. O'Connell, Class of '34), U.S. Congressman Harry Johnston (Class of 1949), the former head of Time Inc. Dick Munro (Class of 1949) and the Southern Baptist leader Adrian Rogers (Class of 1950).
You're not going to tear down what Dr. Stambaugh valued all his life: His roots. He was proud of being a fifth-generation?Palm Beach?County?resident, and particularly proud of his father, Gleason, who led the local Coast Guard reserve during World War II. The house where Gleason was born still stands in?Palm Beach.
When Reggie arrived in this world, he made local news:?The Palm Beach Post?reported his arrival at?Kopplin?Maternity?Hospital?on?Georgia Avenue?because he was the first baby born in 1930.
"This is the second child in the family and was reported as an exceptionally husky baby,"?The Post?noted.
When Dr. Stambaugh died,?The Post?reported that, too - because he made a lasting difference in his community.
During the fight to save?Palm Beach?High School, a local architect commented that historic buildings represent "one generation speaking to another." So, listen, children: Listen to the legacy of Reggie Stambaugh.
He knew that memories are more important than money. And he was true to his school.





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