archives collection - American Academy of Family Physicians ...

oard of family practice, documenting who supported a board and who was against it, and whether
family physicians should have surgical privileges.
Depew, Harry W., M.D. (1919-2007)
1977, 1982-2000
1 slim document case—See also: Audio-Visual Collection and Photograph Collection
Harry W. Depew, M.D., was born in 1919 in Los Angeles. He earned his B.A. at the University of
California-Berkeley in 1941, and his M.D. from the George Washington University Medical School
in Washington, D.C. in 1946. After serving an internship at Los Angeles County General Hospital in
1946-1947, he served in the US Navy as a Medical Officer from 1947-1949. Following his
discharge, from 1949-1951, he completed a rotating residency and an ob-gyn residency at Kern
County General Hospital in Bakersfield. In 1951, he entered private practice in San Diego. During
his career, he frequently served as a preceptor for medical students, and the University of California-
San Diego established a scholarship award in his honor. Dr. Depew, who was fluent in sign
language, had many deaf and hearing impaired patients. He was a strong advocate for serving
patients with hearing impairments because both of his parents and two of his sisters were deaf. He
served on the CAFP Board of Directors and in 1991 served as president of the California Academy
of Family Physicians. He was a charter fellow of the AAFP in 1973, and a charter diplomate of the
ABFP in 1972. Included among his highest honors was being named the California Family
Physician of the Year for 1999, and the AAFP Family Physician of the Year for 2000. He died in
2007 in San Diego.
Materials in this collection include correspondence, articles, awards and certificates, and documents
relating to Dr. Depew’s service on the California AFP Board of Directors. Included are also several
presidential addresses and president’s messages from Dr. Depew that were published in the
California Family Physician, as well as items related to his awards as CAFP and AAFP Family
Physician of the Year. Among the miscellaneous files, there are materials pertaining to Dr. Depew’s
strong advocacy regarding the 1991 establishment of a Family Practice program at his alma mater,
George Washington University Medical Center. A small collection of photographs were transferred
to the Photograph Collection under his name.
DeTar, John (Jack) S., M.D. (1902-1996)
1957
1 slim document case – See also: Audio-Visual Collection and Photograph Collection
John (Jack) S. DeTar, M.D. was born in 1902 in Detroit. He attended Detroit Junior College and
received his B.S. from the University of Michigan. Dr. DeTar earned his M.D. in 1931 from Detroit
College of Medicine (now Wayne State University), supporting his family during that time by
working nights at the Briggs Body Plant. He then served an internship at Henry Ford Hospital in
Detroit and moved to Milan in 1931, where he was in general practice until 1973. After retiring in
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