DR. JOSEPH MICHAEL DEW, M.D.

Dr. Joseph Michael Dew, M.D., 77, Vine Grove, died Jan. 16, 2010, from the effects of esophageal cancer.

He graduated from Flaget High School in 1950, received his undergraduate degree from the University of Louisville in 1958 and his doctor of medicine degree in 1962. He served his internship at St. Joseph Infirmary in Louisville, finishing in 1963. He practiced briefly in Hardinsburg, then in Vine Grove, which he considered home.

At 16, he misrepresented his age to join the Army, spent two years active duty, was discharged, but was drafted to serve in the Korean conflict. He spent four years in the Navy, as a corpsmen, and worked his way through college and medical school as a lab technician at Children’s Hospital in Louisville. He retired as a U.S. Army lieutenant colonel with 37 years of combined active and reserve service. His primary unit was the 5010th Army Hospital unit based in Louisville.

His medical career took him in many directions: private practice, the Indian Health Service, U.S. Army Medical Corps, the University of Louisville Department of Family Medicine, and various emergency departments and urgent care centers throughout central Kentucky. He was the first emergency room physician at Hardin Memorial Hospital in Elizabethtown, a lifetime Fellow of the American Academy of Family Practice, a Diplomate of the American Board of Family Medicine and a lifetime member of the Greater Louisville Medical Society, the Kentucky Medical Association and the Hardin-LaRue County Medical Society. He served as a volunteer fireman in Vine Grove and a Hardin County coroner in the 1960s. He also started the Great Books Club in Vine Grove and was an active member of the Jaycees, once being honored as Man of tbe Year. He also sat on the board of the Foster Parents Commission in Hardin County. He was assistant game warden at Fort Knox several years and served as assistant Scoutmaster in several different Boy Scout troops. He was a lifelong Catholic and was ordained as permanent deacon in August 1978. His assignments as deacon included St. Brigid Church and the Main Post Chapel at Fort Knox. He received a citation inducting him in to the Order of Aaron and Hur, the highest award given by the Army to a civilian chaplain. He was also a fourth degree and lifetime member of the Father Diemert Council 3379 of Knights of Columbus for over 40 years. He was active in the Right to Life and Cursillo movements, Pre-Cana Instructions, Baptismal Rites, and Rites of Christian Initiation for Adults. In addition, he was a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

He was preceded in death by a son, Michael Eric Dew.

Dr. Dew is survived by his wife of 58 years, Betty Jean Dew; a son, Kevin Dew, M.D, Palmyra, Ind.; a daughter, Michelle Dew (Keith) Hottinger, Dumfries, Va.; 10 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

A Mass of Christian burial was held Jan. 20, at St. Brigid Catholic Church in Vine Grove, with the Rev. Daniel Lincoln officiating. Burial was in the St. Brigid Cemetery, with military honors. Coffey and Chism Funeral Home in Vine Grove handled the arrangements.

Expressions of sympathy may take the form of contributions in Dr. Dew’s name to St. Brigid School Renovation, 314 E. Main Street., Vine Grove, KY, 40175 or Hosparus, P.O. Box 2149, Elizabethtown, Ky., 42702-9900.

Condolences may be left online at www.coffeyandchism.com.

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