Woodwinds holds celebration for doctor’s 90th birthday

• Celebrating a long, healthy career

Dr. John Fee attended a birthday party/unveiling ceremony of a bust made in his honor by Dr. Mark Dahl Thursday, Aug. 20 at Woodwinds Health Campus.
• His likeness in bronze

Dr. John Fee looks on at the unveiling of a bronze bust of his likeness that will be on display at the Fee Education Center in Woodbury Health Campus. Fee is a well-known St. Paul cardiologist who took a liking to Woodwinds when it opened in 2001. Fee has made significant contributions to the hospital over the years.

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Woodwinds Health Campus celebrated the 90th birthday of one of its biggest supporters last week.

Dr. John Fee, a retired cardiologist who became a benefactor for Woodwinds Health Campus in 2001, received a bronze bust during a ceremony dedicated in his honor Thursday, Aug. 20, from the hospital for his contributions to the medical practice in the Twin Cities and his support for Woodwinds.

The ceremony took place in the Dr. John G. Fee Education Center on the hospital campus. The center was named after Fee in 2002 shortly after Woodwinds opened.

Dr. Mark Dahl, an orthopedic surgeon for St. Croix Orthopaedics, sculpted the bust of Fee and said Fee continues to serve as an inspiration for those in the medical profession long after he developed the three-point “prescription” in 1950 for good health: regular exercise, a low-fat diet and avoidance of tobacco products.

“I had the privilege of first meeting Dr. Fee 30 years ago when I was working at the emergency department at Midway Hospital,” said Dahl, who performs many surgeries at Woodwinds. “He was an icon in medicine then as he is now.”

In preparation for sculpting the bust, Dahl said he sat down with his Fee and some of his family members for a few 3-4 hour informal interview sessions to gain a better sense of his subject’s energy and inspiration.

“I got to learn quite a bit more about Dr. Fee and what has inspired him over his long career,” Dahl said. “It was pretty humbling to be a part of this process.”

As several family, friends and former colleagues attended the ceremony last week to celebrate Fee’s 90th birthday, the doctor said his secret for living a long and healthy life is as simple as when he became one of the first clinicians in the country almost 60 years ago to establish an absolute association between cholesterol and premature vascular disease. “Get your exercise, moderate your alcohol consumption, stay away from fatty foods and tobacco, and you’ll live a long time,” Fee said.

In 2001 HealthEast’s Woodwinds Health Campus was designated as a remainder beneficiary in Fee’s estate plan. The arrangement allows the Fee family to provide a specified amount to each of their heirs, with the remainder supporting the important work of HealthEast after their lifetimes.

Julie Schmidt, CEO of Woodwinds Health Campus said the Fee Education Center remains a lasting legacy of Fee’s contribution to the medical profession and his community.

The center is host to several educational seminars open to the public on a regular basis.

For more information on some of the upcoming programs at the John G. Fee Education Center at Woodwinds Health Campus, go to www.woodwinds.org and click on “Education.”

Tags: local news, woodwinds health campus, john fee, mark dahl, hospital, woodbury