Lea Warren Merrill, Jr., MD

Born in Texas on December 31, 1917, Warren was raised in Berkeley, California, where he later earned his medical degree at the University of California.

After graduation, he joined the Army and served in the European theater during World War II. He was captured during the Battle of the Bulge and spent the remainder of the war in a German POW camp caring for Allied prisoners.

Following his return to the United States at the conclusion of WW II, Warren established a private practice in Sacramento after completing additional training in surgery. This was the start of our 30-year association, during which time we did call for one another on weekends and holidays. After leaving private practice, he spent nine years with Kaiser Permanente as a staff physician.

Warren was a long-time member of the First Baptist Church where he sang in the choir. He also served as a missionary in Haiti for a brief period of time.

In his leisure time, he was an avid golfer and a charter member of Valley Hi Country Club. He was also an accomplished artist. One of his works-a watercolor depicting the former Sacramento County Medical Society offices at 28th Street and Capitol Avenue, from 1954 to 1960-hangs in the Board Room of the present-day Medical Society.

Preceded in death by his wife, Dorothy, Dr. Merrill is survived by five children and eleven grandchildren.

He will be missed by his family, fellow members of the medical profession and his many patients.

By Glenn Millar, Sr.