Harry S. Wise.(Local) - The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA)

NORFOLK -- NORFOLK - Harry Stephen Wise, M.D., 91, of East Arden Circle, passed away on Oct. 25, 2005 at home with Polly, his beloved wife of 67 years. Born in Kirksville, Mo., he was the son of the late Shirley Gorrell Wise and Claude M. Wise. He is the widower of Dr. Pauline 'Polly' Kopp Wise.

Dr. Wise received his undergraduate degree in Speech and Education and later received his medical degree in 1948 from Louisiana State University. He then joined the U.S. Public Health Service and served as an intern at the U.S. Public Service Hospital in Norfolk. During his career, he served in the Indian Health Service in Arizona with the Navajo and Hopi Tribes. He later returned to Norfolk in 1963 to serve as the Medical Officer in Charge at the same hospital that he served as an intern. He later served with the U.S. State Department in their A.I.D. division in Vietnam as acting Chief of Surgery in DaNang. In 1968, he received his master's degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University. He returned to Norfolk for the third time to become the director of the Norfolk Health Department, and retired from that position in 1984. During his tenure, he accepted two assignments with the World Health Organization to eradicate smallpox in India and Somalia.

Dr. Wise was a board member of the Norfolk Generic Theater, was one of the founders of the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and continued as an honorary board member. He was a member of the World Affairs Council, the Retired Sanitarians Association, The Ghent Venture and the Great Books Group. Dr. Wise also loved to travel and had been to all 50 states and over 86 countries.

Left to cherish his memory are his daughter, Martha W. McCaffrey and her husband Joseph of Slidell, La.; his son, Michael T. Wise and his wife Brenda of Norfolk; a sister, Margaret Ruth Schendel of Suwanee, Ga.; a brother, Paul Wise of Hickory, N.C.; five grandchildren, Christine M. Burks and her husband Brian, David McCaffrey and his wife Robin, Timothy McCaffrey, Helen McCaffrey and her husband Michael O'Neil and Tracy Bumgarner and her husband Dallas; five great-grandchildren, Sean and Kyle Burks, Elizabeth McCaffrey and Emma and Alison O'Neil; and a number of nieces and nephews.

A memorial service to celebrate he and his wife's lives will be conducted at 2 p.m. Thursday in Ghent United Methodist Church by the Rev. Bill McClung. Dr. and Mrs. Wise will be buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Norfolk Generic Theater, the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia or to the Louise Eggleston Center. The family will gather at Cox Funeral Home on Wednesday from 7 until 8 p.m. for visitation with friends. Condolences may be offered to the family through www.dmvobits.com/cox.