Lasting Memories

Joseph H. Hafkenschiel, Jr.
April 2, 1916-Oct. 26, 2016
Portola Valley, California

Joseph H. Hafkenschiel, Jr., M.D. passed away on October 26, 2016, at The Sequoias in Portola Valley, California, where he lived in his later years.

He is survived by his sons, Joseph III, Tom, Mark, and John; his daughters -in-law, Cynthia, Wendy and Jaclyn Jean; his grandchildren, Erin, Alex, Ian and Haley; his grandson-in-law, Ryan Donnelly; and his great-granddaughter, Lucinda Easton Donnelly.

Joe was born on April 2, 1916, in Youngstown, Ohio. He was the son of Joseph H. Hafkenschiel and Anna Conroy Hafkenschiel. He graduated from Rayen High School in Youngstown in 1933. He attended Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, graduating in 1937. He graduated from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1941.

He interned at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital, where he met his future wife, Lucinda Buchanan Thomas, Swarthmore, 1934. They were married from July 1942 until Lucinda’s death in 1983.

His second marriage to Carol Rush of Villanova, Pa., ended in divorce.

During World War II, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and did overseas duty in the China-Burma-India Theater from October 1943 to November 1945, where he instructed "hump" pilots in the use of oxygen, necessary for flights over the Himalayas.

After the war he was awarded a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship for Veterans at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, where he did a residency in Internal Medicine and a Cardiology Fellowship. He supervised cardiopulmonary research at Lankenau Hospital near Philadelphia, where he also had a private practice. In 1965, he accepted a position as Medical Director for the San Francisco Office of Sandoz Pharmaceuticals and moved the family to California. He served on the staff of the Stanford Cardiac Clinic, Stanford Student Health, Agnews Hospital and the Menlo Park VA Hospital.

Joe had a lifelong love of golf, which began while caddying in high school. He was a member of Merion Golf Club, Seaview Country Club, and, after moving to California, San Francisco Golf Club.

In 2009, he reviewed his long and fulfilling professional and personal life by writing and publishing "Joseph H. Hafkenschiel, Jr., M.D. a 21st Century Memoir." A video tribute to his life can be seen at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y460rdJ0BTc.