Lasting Memories

Phil Gelpi
Aug. 27, 1925-Jan. 6, 2017
Seattle, Washington

Armand Philippe (Phil) Gelpi passed away peacefully at age 91 in his home in Seattle surrounded by family. He was born in Denver where he spent his early years before moving to California in 1939, where he later graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1943. Following high school, he joined the Navy and was sent to the University of Texas for both military training and undergraduate college education in the V-12 program. He was accepted at the University of California, San Francisco and started medical school in 1945, graduating in 1949. During medical school, he met Lucille Dachos who was practicing nursing in San Francisco. They were married on March 30, 1952. During the Korean War, while serving with the U.S. Marine Corps as a naval medical officer, he interned at Santa Clara Valley Hospital in San Jose, which was followed by two years of active service in the Navy through 1952. He completed his residency from 1952 to 1955 in both San Francisco and San Jose.

Phil’s medical career began as an internist in Fresno for the Veterans Administration (VA) from 1955 to 1957. This was followed by a move to San Francisco for a fellowship at the VA from 1957 to 58 and a short stint in private practice in San Leandro. In 1959, he took a position as an internist with Aramco (Arabian American Oil Company) drawn by the opportunity to be involved in international health. He moved with his wife and three children in August of that year. He was the Chief of Medical Services at Aramco’s Dhahran Hospital Center leading a team providing patient care to Aramco employees and also diagnosing and treating diseases of the local Saudi population. The family returned to Palo Alto in 1967, where Phil completed a sabbatical at Stanford University in the Department of Physiology to improve lab skills in immunology to support his interest in medical research. Following this, he took a position with the Office of Economic Opportunities as the Medical Director for a clinic supporting residents of East Palo Alto. This was followed by positions at the Palo Alto Clinic and Stanford Health Center. He returned several times to Saudi Arabia during the summers to continue with his medical research that was documented in multiple publications. Palo Alto was his home from the late '60s to the early '80s. He was an avid reader and writer, loved jazz and was active throughout his life playing tennis, swimming and biking. In the late '80s, he and Lucille moved to Sonoma where they lived for 20 years, gradually easing into retirement. In 2008, Phil and Lucille moved to Seattle to be close to grandchildren. His wife of 62 years died in March of 2014 at the age of 88.

Phil is survived by his three children and their spouses, Sam Gelpi and Ingbritt Christensen of Portola Valley, Peter Gelpi and Carrie Platt of Seattle and Nicole Gelpi and Tom Weikert of Seattle, along with three grandchildren, Max and Sam Gelpi and Andrea Weikert.