Don Trunkey 1937-2019

Don Trunkey
1937 Born Oakesdale, Washington
1946 First Operation, Castration of pig
1955 Saint John HS
1958 Married Jane Henry
1959 Washing State College BS in Zoology, Also played basketball
1963 University of Washington MD
1964 Oregon Health Sciences University internship
1964 Drafted US Army, Nuernberg Germany
1966 University of California San Francisco, Residency
1971 Parkland Trauma Service, Trauma Fellowship
1972 University of California San Francisco, San Francisco General, Faculty
1978 University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, General Chief of Surgery
1985 Joined US Army Reserve
1986 Oregon Health Sciences University Chief of Surgery
1991 Desert Storm 50th General Hospital and After Action
2001 Oregon Health Sciences University Professor Emeritus
2006 Rotations to Landsthul Germany to relieve Army surgeons so they could visit home
2018 Moved to Idaho

Not commonly known about Don:
As a teenager Don shot squirrels for farmers and was paid 5 cents per tail. 22 ammo cost 2 cents so he became a good shot.
In High School he worked at a machine shop welding farm equipment and as a projectionist where he often fell asleep and had to be woken to change the reels.
He met my mom by repeatedly breaking his nose in HS sports which was set by Jane’s father. They also saw each other when St. John played Colfax in basketball and at barn dances.
He worked in mines in Montana during the summer in college to make money. He saw his first death on the first day of the job after a minor cave in.
He caught the biggest trout of his life fly fishing in New Zealand (about 24 inches).
He was an excellent cook.
His mom played college tennis and was 5’11”. Her family goes back to the Mayflower.
His 5th time great grandfather fought in the French artillery at Yorktown and deserted rather than go back to France.
He made his own wine with cousins and doctors and won a silver metal in the Oregon State Fair for Piot Noir (a competitive category)
He was in Tiananmen square the night before the 1989 incident talking to the protesters.
He also did historical research of surgery including Presidential assassinations and the Lewis and Clark Expedition

References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trunkey
https://dontrunkey.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVN0laPGF24
https://kingfaisalprize.org/professor-donald-d-trunkey/
https://www.ohsu.edu/…/surgery/about/donald-trunkey-lecture…
http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv64010
https://sfgh.surgery.ucsf.edu/…/234…/history%20of%20sfgh.pdf