A celebration of life is scheduled Sept. 24 for Dr. Eugene Bond, whose career in Everett spanned more than four decades.
Bond earned a reputation as a medical legend among his patients by never turning away anyone who couldn’t pay and by delivering an estimated 5,000 babies.
He often worked 14-hour days and agreed to see sick patients even after office hours were officially over.
When Bond retired in 1999, patients, friends and family members jammed a reception room on what is now Providence Regional Medical Center Everett’s Colby campus to say farewell.
Bond, 87, died Aug. 29 at the Everett hospital, just two days after attending a Friday evening Mariners baseball game with family members, said his grandson Eric Iles, of Seattle.
A memorial service for Bond is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sept. 24 at First Presbyterian Church, 2936 Rockefeller Ave. in Everett.
A reception will follow at 4 p.m. at the Everett Golf and Country Club, 1500 52nd St. SE.
Dr. Jim Finley, a retired physician who worked at The Everett Clinic, said that Bond befriended him when he came to Everett in 1973.
“He had the most gentle manner of anyone you can imagine,” Finley said. “He was very devoted to his patients. He went the extra mile.”
Bond was born on Sept. 6, 1923, in Norman, Okla. He was the grandson of a dentist and the son of a physician.
He graduated from the Oklahoma University’s School of Medicine in 1948 and served as a flight surgeon in the Air Force during the Korean War.
He moved to Everett in 1958. In a 1999 profile, Bond said he came to Everett because “I just had heard how beautiful the country was.”
In that same 1999 story, Finley called Bond “Everett’s Marcus Welby,” referring to the doctor in the medical TV drama that ran from 1969 to 1976.
Bond started and retained a solo medical practice. He served from 1982 to 1985 as president of what was then the combined medical staff of Everett’s two competing hospitals, Providence Hospital and General Hospital Medical Center.
Bond retired on Dec. 31, 1999 at age 76. When he sent out a letter announcing his retirement to his patients, some cried.
Bond volunteered his medical services at Everett and Cascade high school football games for more than 40 years, according to his granddaughter, Sarah White, of Portland, Ore.
Bond is survived by his children, Lynn Smith of Kirkland, Leslie Iles of Everett, and Jeffrey Bond of West Seattle.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the First Presbyterian Church of Everett.
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com.
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