Page 28 - Delaware Medical Journal-October
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DENE T. WALTERS, MD
Member Obituary Daniel DePietropaolo, MD
Dr. Dene T. Walters, 90, died at the Wilmington Hospital August 14, 2015.
Seldom has a doctor done more for a community than Dr. Walters did for the medical community in the state of Delaware. He
will always be remembered as the founding Family Medicine and after his time in those important roles.
Dr. Walters grew up in Harrisburg, Penn.,
and served in the European Theater in
World War II before going to Lebanon
of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He
arrived in Wilmington to do his internship
at the Delaware Hospital and stayed to do a
one year residency in General Practice (the
precursor to the Family Practice Residency
Programs a generation later). For the next
15 years, he was an outstanding doctor in
private practice in North Wilmington. He was
beloved by his patients and the students he
taught there, as he would be throughout his
career (and even afterwards). Tapped in 1971 Residency Program, he guided the nascent program though nation, and was part of a national effort to reverse the 25 year decline of the generalist doctor that had ensued after the Second World War. Successful beyond anything that he could have imagined in 1971, the Program helped Family Doctors become, once again, a major part of the medical system. The Wilmington this matter.
Dr. Walters built a truly great faculty because so many top notch physicians of that era wanted to work with him. Students, interns, and residents came because of much more than just the
high quality teaching. Dr. Walters and his faculty were known for connecting personally with every resident and serving as advisers and guides in helping new doctors start their careers.
He remained the Director of the Family Practice Residency Program for an unheard of 21 years, while serving at the same precept and teach at the program for another 20 years, never losing his ability to draw the best out of student doctors at
all levels.
In addition to being a leader in the areas where he sought to lead,
his involvement was rather unintentional. For instance, when Saint Francis Hospital also started a Family Practice Residency program, he stepped in to provide it with the assistance it
needed to get started. As a result, Delaware has two Family Practice Residencies that
view each other as partners rather than
rivals (a rarity in any locale). When the epic several other young doctors (who were also intentionally ignoring segregation rules at the hospitals. Before long that system fell apart, with the result that Delaware hospitals were Act desegregated hospitals throughout the country. When the Westside Health Service much needed for the area’s poor, it probably would not have survived the departure of its
writing their medical protocols and sending his faculty to back up their nurse practitioner for virtually no charge.
Dene was by far not an ‘all work and no play’ person. He and his wife Marsha traveled extensively, frequently to Europe, and was a connoisseur of wines. He was very proud of his four children and his grandchildren.
Dr. Walters’ success as a doctor was overshadowed only by his kindness and humility as a person. He was a role model for the ages, and will be missed by all who worked with him. As a community and as a state, we were lucky to have him.
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Del Med J | October 2015 | Vol. 87 | No. 10
