Dr. John W. LaBree's passion for medicine began when he was a child and never waned.
Even in his final days, LaBree continued to learn and share his medical knowledge, something he did as a professor, administrator and director of hospital outreach at the University of Minnesota and as second dean of the University of Minnesota Duluth Medical School. He also was one of the original founders of Park Nicollet Medical Center in St. Louis Park, and helped start a graduate program in health administration at the University of St. Thomas.
"It was born in his bones," said his wife of 34 years, Anne. "He found medicine fascinating. That was the core of who he was."
LaBree died Aug. 1 of myelodysplasia at the N.C. Little Memorial Hospice in Edina. He was 92.
LaBree earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Minnesota. In the early 1940s, he completed an internship at the former Ancker Hospital in St. Paul and a residency at the Cleveland Clinics in Ohio. He put his career on hold when he served as a flight surgeon in the Army Air Forces from 1942 to 1946.
After the war, LaBree was a clinical professor of medicine at the U's Twin Cities campus from 1951 to 1975. During that time, he teamed up with several other physicians to open the St. Louis Park Medical Clinic, which is now Park Nicollet.
As the second dean of the University of Minnesota Duluth Medical School, LaBree was credited with helping the school get a new facility and for securing grants for faculty who taught basic sciences.
"John was a wonderful physician, medical administrator and friend," said Dr. Robert Howard of Walnut Creek, Calif., who worked with LaBree at the U's medical school and hospital.
