Dr. Charles Officer, one of Burnsville's Doctor 1961 - 2003
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Dr. Charles OfficerDr. Officer built this clinic in 1964.
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Dr. Charles Officer called back into military duty 1990August 27, 1990 Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Burnsville physician Charles Officer, a silver-haired 62-year-old Navy Veteran with a World War II Victory Medal, admits he is a bit surprised to be ordered into active duty for the Persian Gulf buildup...
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Dr. Charles Officer called back into military duty 1990
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Dr. Charles Officer arrives in Burnsville 1961.Dr. Charles Officer and his mother Ethelyn Margaret (Dickens) Officer at the new office he built in 1964 behind the Warrior Building off Highway 13.
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Dr. Charles Officer (Burnsville office and obituary)Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
29 & 30 April 2009
Officer, Charles D., MD, CDR, USNR, MC (Ret), age 81 of Bloomington, entered eternal life on April 27, 2009, and was reunited in heaven with his wife of 49 years, Elisabeth, who has been watching over him from above since August 10, 2002.
Survived by children, Tom (Mary) Officer, MD; Chuck (Molly) Officer, Jr; Colleen (Tom) Officer-Anderson; Collette (Michael) Officer-Hunt; grandchildren, Christy (Dan), Jonathan, Melanie, Chuck III, Nicole, Steven, Jennifer, Elisabeth, Kelly, David, Thomas, John, Laurel, Theresa, Samantha, Patrick; great-grandchildren, Kelsey, Tyler, Courtney; siblings, Wally (Roberta) Officer, Margaret (Tom) Duncan, Mary (Don) Phillips.
Dr. Officer loved his family, his country, and his patients. Born in Creston Iowa, he received his MD from the University of Iowa. He met the love of his life, Elisabeth, a nurse at Milwaukee County hospital and they married in 1953. His service to his country as a Naval Flight Surgeon spanned 6 decades from WWII through Desert Storm.
He practiced medicine for a half century, first in Bloomington and then as the first family doctor in Burnsville, where his love for others touched the lives of thousands, including the hundreds of children he delivered. A man of rare intellect and humility, he could speak on almost any topic but never spoke of himself. He was always interested in the lives of others. Most of all, he lived for and loved his family.
A gentile giant, he taught through example, in both life and death, the values of humility, honor, duty, and love. Special thanks to Davita Dialysis, Fairview Hospice, and for the compassionate care of the skilled professionals at the Bloomington Masonic Home who helped him on his final journey. Memorials preferred to Nativity of Mary Catholic Church.
Mass of Christian Burial at 10am Friday, May 1, at Nativity of Mary Catholic Church, 9900 Lyndale Ave. So. Bloomington. Visitation from 5-8pm Thursday at Gill Brothers Funeral Chapel, 9947 Lyndale Ave So., and one hour prior to Mass at church. Interment at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.
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Dr. Charles Officer's officeThe original office of Dr. Officer Portand Avenue.
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Dr. Charles Officer Car AccidentDr. Charles Officer was in a serious car accident on Interstate 35 W driving home from his Burnsville office to his Bloomington home. He was out of work for several months recuperating but eventually returned to practice.
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Dr. Charles Officer Car AccidentDr. Charles Officer was in a serious car accident on Interstate 35 W driving home from his Burnsville office to his Bloomington home. He was out of work for several months recuperating but eventually returned to practice.
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Dr. Charles Officer - military serviceDr. Charles Officer was born and raised in Iowa and joined the Navy in 1945 upon graduation from high school. The Navy made him a Pharmacist’s Mate and, after training, he was stationed at NAS Key West. It was there he spent the night bedside with a man dying alone without any family and there he decided to be a doctor.
After his enlistment ended in 1947, he attended college, and then Medical School, at the University of Iowa. He married Elisabeth Kirsch in 1953 and accepted a commission in the Navy Medical Corps upon medical school graduation in 1954 - two weeks after his first son Tom was born. He did his internship at Great Lake Naval Hospital and then received his wings upon graduation from Naval Flight Surgeon school in Pensacola, Florida.
He was next assigned as the Flight Surgeon for an antisubmarine warfare squadron homeported in San Diego, CA and deployed to Kwajalein in the Marshal Islands and participated in Operation Red Wing, the above ground nuclear tests. He was at sea on a carrier when his second son Chuck Jr. was born in 1956.
In December of 1956 he was assigned to Naval Air Station (NAS) Minneapolis as a flight surgeon. In April of 1957 he built his home in Bloomington, MN as his twin daughters, Colleen and Collette were born. While stationed at NAS Minneapolis, the medical department there was recognized, two years in a row, as the best medical department in the Naval Reserve. Additionally, in 1958 he participated in the Navy Strato Lab high altitude manned balloon tests into the upper atmosphere, the precursor to NASA. Those tests developed and tested the Navy pressurized space suits that were later used by Navy Commander Alan Shepard, the first American in space, and the other Mercury astronauts.
In 1959 Dr. Officer left active duty to open his own medical practice in Bloomington Minnesota in a small office near Old Shakopee Road and Lyndale. Interestingly his office was over David Fong’s original carry out location and that was the beginning of a lifelong friendship with the Fongs.
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Dr. Charles Officer - military serviceDr. Charles Officer was born and raised in Iowa and joined the Navy in 1945 upon graduation from high school. The Navy made him a Pharmacist’s Mate and, after training, he was stationed at NAS Key West. It was there he spent the night bedside with a man dying alone without any family and there he decided to be a doctor.
After his enlistment ended in 1947, he attended college, and then Medical School, at the University of Iowa. He married Elisabeth Kirsch in 1953 and accepted a commission in the Navy Medical Corps upon medical school graduation in 1954 - two weeks after his first son Tom was born. He did his internship at Great Lake Naval Hospital and then received his wings upon graduation from Naval Flight Surgeon school in Pensacola, Florida.
He was next assigned as the Flight Surgeon for an antisubmarine warfare squadron homeported in San Diego, CA and deployed to Kwajalein in the Marshal Islands and participated in Operation Red Wing, the above ground nuclear tests. He was at sea on a carrier when his second son Chuck Jr. was born in 1956.
In December of 1956 he was assigned to Naval Air Station (NAS) Minneapolis as a flight surgeon. In April of 1957 he built his home in Bloomington, MN as his twin daughters, Colleen and Collette were born. While stationed at NAS Minneapolis, the medical department there was recognized, two years in a row, as the best medical department in the Naval Reserve. Additionally, in 1958 he participated in the Navy Strato Lab high altitude manned balloon tests into the upper atmosphere, the precursor to NASA. Those tests developed and tested the Navy pressurized space suits that were later used by Navy Commander Alan Shepard, the first American in space, and the other Mercury astronauts.
In 1959 Dr. Officer left active duty to open his own medical practice in Bloomington Minnesota in a small office near Old Shakopee Road and Lyndale. Interestingly his office was over David Fong’s original carry out location and that was the beginning of a lifelong friendship with the Fongs.
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Family practice grows with community 1979October 2, 1979 Sun Newspaper feature on Dr. Charles Officer
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Charles D. Officer - MD - Burnsville's doctor 1961 - 2003Charles Officer is the first physician to set up practice in Burnsville, although other doctors were available to residents.
This biography of Dr. Officer was prepared by his family in 2020 for the Burnsville Historical Society.
CHARLES D. OFFICER, MD
Dr. Charles Officer was born and raised in Iowa and joined the Navy in 1945 upon graduation from high school. The Navy made him a Pharmacist’s Mate and, after training, he was stationed at NAS Key West. It was there he spent the night bedside with a man dying alone without any family and there he decided to be a doctor. After his enlistment ended in 1947, he attended college, and then Medical School, at the University of Iowa. He married Elisabeth Kirsch in 1953 and accepted a commission in the Navy Medical Corps upon medical school graduation in 1954 - two weeks after his first son Tom was born. He did his internship at Great Lake Naval Hospital and then received his wings upon graduation from Naval Flight Surgeon school in Pensacola, Florida.
He was next assigned as the Flight Surgeon for an antisubmarine warfare squadron homeported in San Diego, CA and deployed to Kwajalein in the Marshal Islands and participated in Operation Red Wing, the above ground nuclear tests. He was at sea on a carrier when his second son Chuck Jr. was born in 1956.
In December of 1956 he was assigned to Naval Air Station (NAS) Minneapolis as a flight surgeon. In April of 1957 he built his home in Bloomington, MN as his twin daughters, Colleen and Collette were born. While stationed at NAS Minneapolis, the medical department there was recognized, two years in a row, as the best medical department in the Naval Reserve. Additionally, in 1958 he participated in the Navy Strato Lab high altitude manned balloon tests into the upper atmosphere, the precursor to NASA. Those tests developed and tested the Navy pressurized space suits that were later used by Navy Commander Alan Shepard, the first American in space, and the other Mercury astronauts.
In 1959 Dr. Officer left active duty to open his own medical practice in Bloomington Minnesota in a small office near Old Shakopee Road and Lyndale. Interestingly his office was over David Fong’s original carry out location and that was the beginning of a lifelong friendship with the Fongs.
Burnsville began to grow with the replacement of the Lyndale Ave drawbridge over the Minnesota river and the construction of the new I35W bridge. In 1961 he recognized the potential growth expected south of the Minnesota River and moved into a new building in Savage with Dr Arthur Madsen, a dentist. In 1964 he then built his own office, the Warrior Plaza Medical Center, with Dr Robert Dyste, a dentist, at Highway 13 and Nicollet (across Highway 13 from the Lucky Twin outdoor theater). That building still exists across from the new downtown Burnsville and the Performing Arts Center. At that time, Highway 13 was still a gravel road and very little had been built south on Nicollet.
Dr Officer was in a serious car accident on I35W driving home from his Burnsville office to his Bloomington home. He was out of work for several months recuperating but eventually returned to his Burnsville office.
Dr Officer was board certified in Family Medicine and on the staff of St Mary’s, Methodist and later Fairview Southdale hospital when it was built in 1965. He continued to practice from his Burnsville office for almost 3 decades as Burnsville continued to grow. Fairview Ridges hospital was built in 1984 and that became the primary medical center south of the river. Interestingly, in 2012 Fairview Ridges awarded Dr. Officer’s granddaughter, Laurel Officer, their scholarship for outstanding high school student interested in a career in healthcare. Laurel Officer, MD, is now an Air Force Medical Officer doing her residency in Neurology. Dr. Officer’s son Tom, has been a doctor board certified in nephrology for 40 years with his practice in Fredericksburg VA. Dr. Tom Officer also served as a Navy medical officer. Dr Charles Officer was the first of three generations of doctors who served as military medical officers.
While Dr Officer left the Navy Reserves in the 1960s, as a Navy and FAA qualified Flight Surgeon he was frequently approached about joining the Navy Reserves. He previously held a private pilot’s license and loved all things related to aviation. He attended the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) annual event in Oshkosh almost every summer. He also maintained relationships with a lot of Northwest pilots. Ray Glumack, who ran MSP airport for years (and the road into MSP is named after him) was a friend of his dating back to their time together at NAS Minneapolis in the 1950s. In 1988 he agreed to go back into the Navy Reserves as a Flight Surgeon. In June of 1989, his son Chuck Jr, then an active duty Naval Cryptologic Officer, swore Dr Officer back into the Navy for a third time aboard the USS Constellation in Baltimore Harbor. The USS Constellation is the sister ship to the USS Constitution in Boston, the two oldest Navy ships in commission in the US Navy. Dr Officer was assigned to NAS Minneapolis for weekend drills and assigned to the Naval Hospital at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, CA in the event of a war or call to active duty.
That call came one year later in August of 1990 shortly after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. Most of the reserve medical officers were involuntarily recalled to active duty. Dr Officer was either the first or one of the first reservists from the Twin Cities called to active duty (see Star Tribune article dated August 27, 1990) at age 63. He had 72 hours to close up his office and get on a plane to Camp Pendleton CA. His initial orders were for 90 days during Operation Desert Shield as President Bush gave Saddam a deadline of January 1991 to get out of Kuwait. Dr Officer had hoped to return to his practice after 90 days. When Saddam didn’t relent, Dr Officer was extended on active duty for multiple 90-day periods ultimately spending almost a year at Camp Pendleton while the First Marine Division was deployed to the Middle East for Operation Desert Storm. His wife Elisabeth eventually moved to California for the last nine months of his active duty. He was released from active duty and returned to Minnesota in the summer of 1991.
As his practice was now gone, he then joined Quello Clinic in Burnsville and practiced from the Burnsville and Edina offices. Additionally, he continued to do Urgent Care nights and weekends. In 2002 his wife Elisabeth died unexpectantly from a heart attack. He continued to practice with Quello (later acquired by Allina) and serve his patients in Burnsville until 2003 when he retired after practicing medicine for almost 50 years and caring for Burnsville patients for over 40 years.
Dr. Officer spent his retirement years in the Bloomington home he built in 1957 until his death of colon cancer April 27, 2009. He was buried at Fort Snelling Cemetery with full military honors rendered by a detachment of Naval Officers and sailors, including the Officer in Charge who served with him at Camp Pendleton during Desert Storm.
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Dr. Charles OfficerDr. Charles Officer's final business card, still in Burnsville 2003.
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Warrior Plaza Medical CenterWarrior Plaza Medical Center was located across Highway 13 from the Lucky Twin on what is now Travelers Trail. Dr. Charles Officer, was Burnsville's first or second "doctor" in town. Dr. Robert Dyste, dentist was also in the space.
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New Medical Center open at Savage --- actually Burnsville.April 6, 1961 Dakota County Tribune: Pictured is the new Burnsville Medical Center located at the junction of Highways 13 and 101 in Savage (Burnsville). The new building was formally opened February 6 and provides offices for Dr. Arthur M. Madsen Jr and Dr. Charles Officer. A few years later the Burnsville Police would use a portion of this building for their offices. In 2020 it is a dental clinic.
* In 1961 Burnsville's mailing address was Savage.
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