Longtime Kodiak doctor and friend to many Mark Withrow died on Wednesday during a boating trip.
Alaska State Troopers said Withrow was alone on his boat Wednesday afternoon and was overdue. A family friend located his boat anchored in a Long Island lagoon. Troopers found Withrow on a beach nearby. His cause of death won’t be determined until an Alaska State Medical Examiners investigation is complete.
Dr. Withrow was 75 and retired from a 45-year medical practice. He was deeply involved in community affairs, from youth hockey to hospice, and keenly touched the lives of many with his skill, generosity and joy.
A potluck celebration of Dr. Withrow’s life is scheduled for 3-5 p.m. Feb. 15, at the Afognak Center on Near Island. On Friday, KDM invited community members to tell us about how Dr. Withrow touched their lives. Here’s what they said.
JULIE COYLE
“Our community lost a great man and healer. Dr. Withrow was there to bring both my boys into the world. He saved my life and son’s during my first delivery in 1993, and when I went in for my first appointment for my second pregnancy in 1996. He said, ‘don’t worry Julie, we have a bigger suction now!’ We laughed!
He was a way of calming his patient’s fears and making them feel safe. I got him started with Relay for Life when I was the sponsorship chair years ago. It brought teams to my eyes when I saw him in a booth at Relay years later in 2017.
He was an inspiration to many, with a heart of gold. He’d do anything to help someone in need in our community. I will cherish the memories I have of him. Especially when he treated my almost-3-year-old’s second-degree burns and my son reached up, rubbed Mark’s cheeks and said, ‘I wuv you Mark.’ Big or small, Dr. Withrow made a difference. He will always be in my heart and remembered with love.”
STEPHANIE COZART
“The Kodiak health community mourns the loss of our long-time doctor. He was respected by the families he served from the babies he delivered to monthly checkups. If you ask the nurses who worked with, he was kind, professional and knowledgeable, whether working among nurses on Acute Care or at Providence delivering babies.
“Every nurse you speak to who worked with him will say the same thing. Kind, professional, personable. Our tight-knit community of Kodiak has lost a wonderful doctor, friend, father, and colleague.”
ELLA KATELNIKOV
“My sister and I babysat for his family during our teenage years. As well, when our dad was dying in 1992, Dr. Withrow helped our family get everything in place to die at home, way before any formal hospice was established in Kodiak.
“Following dad’s death, Dr. Withrow helped carry dad from the house to the hearse. I have nothing but deep respect and gratitude for the level of care and compassion he gave to so many Kodiak residents.”
SUSAN BRUNER SCHMEISSER
“Dr. Withrow was my daughter’s physician. She was in the hospital three times in her first eight months. I remember the first time she was only a week old. He was so good with her and reassuring to me. The second time was a few weeks later.
“Then the third time he said ‘off you go to Anchorage. If she was my daughter that’s what I would do.’ He was then our preferred doctor and whenever he saw me he said hi and I know he remembered me and my family. That was 34 years ago!”
CLAIRE FULP
“I played basketball with his daughter Annie, and I knew him as just a really supportive dad. Such warm eyes and a warm heart, and that wasn’t common in basketball. Some of the parents that would get involved, there was a competitive feel, and he just wanted everyone to be successful.
“He was just such an amazing person to have on the island, you know, just anywhere you went, he was always kind to everybody. Just was kind of an anchor of the community.”
GINA PERU-FRICCERO
“He and his wife’s contributions to our community are too numerous to list. They are loved and appreciated by friends, colleagues, employees and patients. Kodiak is a very small town and we know each other and form relationships that span decades. Mark was an important part of our story and we are so saddened by his passing.”
AMY DURAND
“What I learned most from Mark is life should be about caring for your community. Mark was filled with compassion and love for all of his neighbors in everything he did. I admired him for his calm spirit and gracious presence.”
JEN WEBSTER
“I was not in a really good work situation and he reached out and said ‘Why don’t you come work for me?’ And that was just a lifeline. He didn’t have to do that. He always said that he looked outside of what was comfortable and extended his support to anyone who needed it.
I’m a medical director now and I hire people and one thing that I will always remember is what he told me, ‘You don’t wanna hire somebody that you wouldn’t want to spend two weeks with on a camping trip.’
Just working with him in his practice, it was like a family. It’s irreplaceable, like we may never have that again. The culture and the tone that Mark set is one I emulate today.”
STEPHANIE (LAST NAME WITHHELD BY REQUEST)
“I moved to Kodiak in 1984 and I got married and immediately got pregnant. I was really excited about it and I went to see Dr. Withrow. My new husband turned out to be extremely abusive. He said, ‘well, we’ll just give you a pill. So you can, you know, go back to your cycle and I said no, no pills.’ It would kill the baby.
“So Dr. Winthrop stood up for me. He not only was a doctor, but he took my side and made sure that I would be safe my entire pregnancy. Dr. Withrow was kind and understanding and he was in my corner to make sure I was safe. And you know what? Almost 40 years later, I’ve never forgotten.”
FRED FOGLE
“Mark Withrow was my doctor from when I was 20 till he retired. When my mother slipped deeper into dementia after my father died, Mark and his wife quietly stepped in to help my brother and I get her into a care facility.
“Later, when that facility closed they went out of their way to help us get her transferred to Kodiak so she could be closer to friends and family. This was typical of Mark. He was always looking to help people and never looking for accolades. People like him are what make our community so special. Mark was a great doctor and all-around great person.”
STACY STUDEBAKER
AND MIKE SIROFCHUCK
“We are heartbroken with Mark’s passing. He was our doctor and friend for over 40 years and the Withrow Clinic was a vital part of our community. Mark was a stellar example of community service, from the Little Libraries he built to his Native site and environmental stewardship.
In a myriad of ways he made our community better, What we’ll miss most is his quirky sense of humor and gift for making us laugh, especially when we would cross paths with him on our walks in Fort Abercrombie. He passed away in nature and doing what he loved. We should all be so lucky. RIP Dear Friend.”
CHELSEA KING
“Dr. Withrow was my doctor when I was a kid, and I’m 37. He was the doctor to my twins. When I came back to the islands with them and established care with him for my twins, he joked with me and wrote me a prescription for a hot toddy. I remember looking at him thinking, are you sure? And he gave me a whole handful of earplugs and said, ‘here, you might need these too.’
“So he’s a really special guy, a really special doctor. He took such genuine care of his patients. You walked into his patient room and you just felt calm and he came in just a loving father figure. He just was so caring and gentle.
“I ended up working for him at the clinic, actually as one of his CNA’s in 2011. There was a time where he was going to his boat, getting ready to go, but he stopped by the clinic to check out some medical records in his waders and everything. And we’re like, aren’t you supposed to be out fishing? But he cared so much about all of his patients that he would just stop in whenever.”
VICTORIA CHRISTIANSEN
“Dr. Withrow ended up being the one to bring me into the world in 1985. His kids were around my age and friends with many of my friends. For the people who were born, raised or moved here and spent any significant time in Kodiak there is no way they didn’t hear of him or cross paths in the community in some way. Kodiak is an amazing community and it’s because of the people like him who make Kodiak their family! He will be missed.”
TERRA CUPP
“Dr. Withrow was one of the finest doctors I had the pleasure to work with. He had a special way of caring for patients at the end of life. I was so pleased when he joined the board of Hospice. I hope he is off doing something he loved — fishing.”
JEN ROSE
“In 2008, I moved to Kodiak as a Coast Guard spouse with two young children. Dr. Withrow hired me to work the front desk at his clinic, my first job in the medical field. While working there my youngest son contracted rheumatic fever, which required an emergency medevac off the island and a week’s long stay in Anchorage.
“It also happened to be the week of my older son’s birthday. I was out of work for quite some time and had no PTO accrued. When I returned to the office Dr. Withrow presented me with a personal check for more than double my missed wages.
“He and Dr. Juergens also gifted my older son, whose birthday had been essentially canceled due to the emergency, a Walmart gift card so he could pick out birthday gifts. During my time at KIMA I began to see that my sons and I weren’t special. What we experienced was not just a one-off situation. He often showed the same care and compassion to everyone. His employees, his patients, and his beloved community.
“His compassion lit a spark in me. I wanted to make a tangible difference in the lives of others. So I continued on in healthcare and, inspired by him, became an RN. I’m a better person for knowing Mark Withrow!”
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