George Walter Sgalitzer
September 22, 1912 - December 2, 2006
Obituary
George Sgalitzer, MD, Colonel retired, Medical Corps, US Army died peacefully on December 2, 2006 following a brief illness. Dr Sgalitzer was born in 1912 in Vienna, Austria where he was educated in the Jesuit schools and received his medical diploma from the University of Vienna in 1936. During the tumultuous years of World War II, Dr Sgalitzer left Europe heading eventually for the United States, but along the way working for four years as a physician in China where his patients included Chiang-kai-shek. He practiced Family Medicine in Seattle, Wa for many years until joining the US Army Medical Corps during the Korean Conflict.
His colorful career in the Medical Corps included many locations throughout the United States and Germany. Following his retirement from the US Army after 20 years, he was appointed by President Gerald Ford to the Board of Veterans Appeals as an Associate Member in Washington, D.C. where he served for 8 years. Returning to his beloved Seattle, he served another 8 years as Chief Medical Officer of the Regional Office of the Veterans Administration there. His many professional memberships included a charter membership in the American Academy of Family Physicians, Fellow of the American Geriatrics Society, Member of the King County Medical Society, Fellow of the Royal Society of Health in London, and Vice President of the Pan American Medical Association. He received several military awards including the Army Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster and a Distinguished Career Award with the Veterans Administration.
Dr Sgalitzer was a lifelong patron of the arts with a special love for classical music. He started playing the piano at age six and became a highly accomplished musician who played in private concerts across five continents. His passion for music was nurtured by two major European music festivals which take place on an annual basis, the Salzburg Festival in Austria and the Bayreuth Wagner Festival in Germany. Dr Sgalitzer was introduced by his grandparents to the Salzburg Festival in 1920 and excluding the wartime years when the festival was dark, he attended every festival thereafter, his last visit in 2006 commemorating his 85th attendance. His absolute fascination with Wagner was sparked upon attending the Bayreuth festival in 1930 where he first heard Wagner’s Parsifal conducted by the world-reknowned conductor, Arturo Toscanini. Patronizing both festivals became an annual tradition. Dr Sgalitzer was a Director of the Salzburg Festival Society Board as well as a member of the Bayreuth Festival inner circle. In addition, he was an ardent fan of Shakespeare and patronized the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario for many years, combining his visits with the annual music festivals after his retirement from active medical practice.
Dr Sgalitzer was preceded in death by his wife of 61 years, Hana, always by his side; survivors include his daughter, Norma Andreadis and family of Los Gatos, Ca., his son, Walter Sgalitzer and family of Everson, Wa. and four grandchildren; his sister, Dr Elizabeth Ettinghausen of Princeton, NJ, and several nephews and nieces.
In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to the American Red Cross.
Burial will take place at Calvary Cemetery in Seattle, Wa on Monday, Dec 11 at 11:00AM preceded by a requiem mass at Our Lady of Fatima Church in Magnolia.
I was honored to know both George and Hana. I met them in Salzburg. George was an amazing human being whom I deeply respected and admired. I shall miss him very, very much. My deepest and heartfelt condolences to the family he loved so much.
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