EDMONDS, Thomas T.

Dr. Edmonds and his wife, Judy, congratulate Helen HUEWE, the 40th recipient of the FIRST CITIZEN AWARD. Photo courtesy: Telegraph Herald

EDMONDS, Thomas T. (Dubuque, IA, April 30, 1939--Dubuque, IA, Oct. 20, 2026. Edmonds, a pathologist and in 1977 the assistant Dubuque County medical examiner, was instrumental in the formation of UNITED CLINICAL LABORATORIES. He served as chairperson of the board for MERCY HEALTH CENTER, St. Joseph's Unit and was a member of the board of the YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION (Y.M.C.A.) Due to the uniqueness of the obituary, it is copied below.

If you are reading this, it is apparent that I, Thomas T. (Tom) Edmonds, M.D. have passed away. I only hope that I died as well as many of my friends and family before me. If I could, I’d email you from the other side. What fun to think of what that might do to the various establishments of our “civilization”! It is very warm here, probably the result of my religious beliefs.

I was born at The Finley Hospital in Dubuque, Iowa on April 30, 1939, the only son of Helen and Cecil Edmonds and apparently delivered by a veterinarian. That was probably appropriate considering what a horse’s derriere I could be later in life. Raised in Dubuque, I suppose I was a normal child, fortunate by not having television, i-pods and cell phones and having, as a result, to use my brain in other, more productive ways. By the time I graduated from Senior High School in 1957, I was actually able to think and to begin questioning much of the dogma of our times.

After two years at the University of Dubuque and two years at the U. of Iowa, I entered medical school at the U. of Iowa in 1961. One year later, on August 4, 1962, I married Judith Kay (Judy) Bredlow and we settled into a 42 X 8 foot mobile home in Iowa City. The decision to wed was made easy by my love for Judy and the risk of dying of food poisoning in the Nu Sigma Nu fraternity house had I stayed there. I developed a fascination for the practice of pathology during a fellowship year in medical school and after graduation in 1966, continued training to be a pathologist at Duke University, the University of Iowa and the University of Vermont. This time included two years in the Air Force doing hazardous duty in the Aerospace Branch of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C. One result of all of the foregoing was to entirely miss the 1960s and the freeing of inhibitions that might have occurred.

We returned to Dubuque in the Fall of 1972 and I began work with Pathology Associates, serving the three local hospitals and medical community. In 1986, we formed a joint venture with the then two remaining hospitals, Finley and Mercy, and Medical Services Lab and known henceforth as United Clinical Laboratories. I was very fortunate to have returned to this vital community to work with fine and talented personnel at all levels of our medical endeavors throughout my career.

In my later years, I must apologize for becoming a bit of a curmudgeon, the result, I am afraid, of carrying a functioning brain along. I especially regret that I was not able to have some measurable effect upon reducing the repetitive stupidity that so characterizes our human society, including myself. Look me up on the other side and we’ll discuss it.

May the Force be with you,

Tom

(written by Tom on July 2, 2007)

Dr. Edmonds' nature pictures were frequently featured in the Telegraph Herald. Photo courtesy: Telegraph Herald

Life in the tri-states was also a theme of his pictures. Photo courtesy: Telegraph Herald

Photo courtesy: Telegraph Herald

Dr. Edmonds records the Catfish Bend Casino being pushed along the river. Photo courtesy: Telegraph Herald