David Fryer, physician and scholar
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So diligently did the young David Fryer study when he was bedridden during his final school year that the local paper in Portsmouth, England featured him in a 1947 story headlined "This Boy Would Not Give Up."
Such dedication would characterize his life as a physician, husband, father, artist, sailor, inveterate gadgeteer and life-long scholar.
Dr. Fryer died Monday after a six-month struggle with cancer.
He was born Sept. 20, 1928, in Portsmouth, the second son of an engineer in the Royal Navy submarine force. Portsmouth was heavily bombed during World War II, and, like many schoolchildren, he was evacuated to the countryside for safety.
Despite being ill in his last term of grammar school, he earned one of two available state scholarships to attend college. He graduated from medical school at Leeds University. He practiced medicine in Great Britain and traveled the globe as a ship's doctor on the ocean liner SS Oronsay before going to work at Vancouver General Hospital in British Columbia.
Dr. Fryer eventually transferred to Boston City Hospital and then became a fellow in neurology at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
It was an apt profession for "such a cerebral, intelligent man," said his son, Alex Fryer, a Seattle Times reporter.
From the UW, Dr. Fryer joined the Virginia Mason Clinic and wrote 15 publications, including a report on his diagnosis of a case of Refsum's Disease, a rare inherited condition. He served on the board of trustees of King County Medical Blue Shield for six years. He retired in 1994.
But that was only the beginning of new interests. In retirement, Dr. Fryer earned a bachelor's degree in electronic engineering technology at Western Washington University - taking courses as an intellectual challenge and a way to "exercise his brain," his son said.
He also sailed a 14-foot boat he kept moored at Leschi and built intricate train sets and remote-controlled airplanes, flying the planes at Marymoor Park. He had a knack for fixing things and recently took up painting, often copying landscapes or still lifes from photographs he'd taken.
"His talent was impressive, far more than you would expect from an amateur," his son said.
Although Dr. Fryer adored America and the class-free opportunity it offered, he remained consummately British, his son said. He never lost his English accent, loved to quote Shakespeare or sing Gilbert and Sullivan patter, and always wore a necktie, even while gardening.
"We kidded him about his gardening tie," his son said.
Dr. Fryer enjoyed traveling with his wife, former King County Superior Court Judge Carmen Otero, and maintained a special friendship with his former wife, Ilona, helping her through what has been a long, difficult illness, his son said.
Survivors also include his brother, John of Havant, England; son Tom of Bellingham; and grandson, Benjamin, of Seattle.
A memorial service will be held at 5 p.m. tomorrow at the Volney Richmond Auditorium in the Lindeman Pavilion at Virginia Mason Medical Center, 1201 Terry Ave.
Remembrances may be made to the David Fryer Fund for the early diagnosis of lung cancer at the Virginia Mason Foundation, P.O. Box 1930, Seattle, WA 98111.