Obituary of Richard C. Mitchell

Dr. Richard C. "Dick" Mitchell, 93, of Iowa City, and formerly of Waterloo, died peacefully Sunday, December 11, 2016, at Oaknoll Retirement Residence. Funeral services will be held at 2pm Thursday, December 15, 2016, at First United Methodist Church in Iowa City (Sunday parking ordinance will be in effect for the streets near the church). Burial will be at the Oakland Cemetery in Iowa City. There will be a time of fellowship and visitation one hour prior to the services and immediately following the services at the church. In lieu of flowers memorial donations can be made in Dick's memory to the First United Methodist Church – Organ Fund or a charity of the donor's choice. Online condolences may be sent for his family through the funeral home website @ www.gayandciha.com. Richard Charles Mitchell was born August 26, 1923, in Ft. Dodge, Iowa, the son of Geneva Ferne and Charles L. Mitchell. The family moved to Waterloo in 1932 where he attended school and graduated from East High School in 1941. He received a B.A. degree from the University of Iowa in 1943, and followed with an M.D. degree in 1947. Dr. Mitchell interned at City Hospital in Akron, OH, and took a pediatric residency at Children's Hospital in Akron, OH, from 1948 to 1950. He was chief resident there from 1949-1950. He continued his pediatric residency in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics from July to October in 1950. He then served as a physician in the Navy in Japan, Korea, and at the Yorktown, Virginia Naval Base from 1950 to June 1953. He subsequently practiced pediatrics in Waterloo, Iowa, until March 1975, at which time he joined the staff of the University of Iowa Student Health Service. He served on this staff until his retirement in May 1989. He married Betty Ruth Norris on June 26, 1955. He was a licentiate of the American Board of Pediatrics, a life member and emeritus fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and a member of the American Medical Association. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Iowa City. Dick had a great love of music. He played the flute from the time he was nine years old. He played in many bands and orchestras over the years included the Hawkeye Marching Band. He won a superior rating in the National High School Music contest for his solo flute performance in 1941. Dick and Betty enjoyed traveling and visiting most of the countries in Europe. His other interest was woodworking. This involved making fine wood furniture and also completing the interior and furniture for a summer home they had built in Colorado. Surviving are his wife, Betty; his children, Thomas A. Mitchell, and his wife Priscilla, of La Luz, NM, and Elizabeth "Beth" Williams, and her husband, Thomas of Owasso, OK; two grandchildren, two step-grandchildren, and four great-step-grandchildren; and his brother-in-law, Paul Norris, and his wife, Kathy, of Westminster, CO. His parents died earlier.