Gary E. Leinbach, M.D. Endowed Memorial Scholarship
EST. 2015
Please address your letter to:
Robert and Jennifer Leinbach
Dr. Gary Leinbach grew up in humble circumstances in Wallingford, Connecticut, one of three children born to educators Earl and Helen Leinbach. Gary’s insatiable curiosity about the world, his desire to learn and his uncompromising work ethic led him to receive a Tyng Academic Scholarship to Williams College in Massachusetts. A Tyng scholarship covered all expenses for four years of college and three years of graduate school, thereby allowing Gary to fulfill his dream of studying medicine at Cornell University Medical School in New York City.
In 1961, Gary and wife Arlene trekked to the West Coast to complete his Internal Medicine residency at the University of Washington School of Medicine. At the UW School of Medicine he served an extra year as Chief Resident. After a two-year stint as a doctor in the Army in Orléans, France, Gary returned to the University of Washington for both a Gastroenterology Fellowship and a Nuclear Medicine Fellowship. Gary also taught medical students, worked in UW Medicine clinics, devoted time to patients in West Seattle’s High Point Medical Clinic, and served as Director of Gastroenterology at Harborview Medical Center. In 1971, Gary’s desire to apply more of his knowledge to patients induced him to accept an offer to join a private medical group in San Bruno, California with a friend and colleague he had met in Orleans, France. Gary’s bright career was unfortunately and ironically cut short by a terminal battle with cancer of the small intestine in 1972. Always the teacher, and with knowledge that he was losing his battle with cancer, Gary agreed to be interviewed by Dr. Robert Petersdorf, Chair of the UW School of Medicine’s Department of Medicine during the dying process, resulting in an educational program on Death and Dying that was well ahead of its time.
Gary’s love of medicine came second only to his love of people. He was a devoted husband, father and friend, and an inspirational role model to all who knew him. His love for people also separated Gary from his peers in the medical world as he listened deeply to his patients. He provided for his patients what many find missing in medicine today: warmth, connection, and compassion; yet never diluted his professionalism or academic standards. He treated everyone with equal value, consideration and respect.
The Gary E. Leinbach M.D., Endowed Memorial Scholarship was established to provide opportunities (just as opportunity was given to Gary) to those in need with superior drive, ethics and a joie de vivre. Upon Gary’s death, at a time when his children Michelle and Rob were 5 years old and 3 years old respectively, his friends and family put together an education fund for the children. In Gary’s name and in thanks for such support, Rob and Jenni Leinbach now return the favor. The Leinbachs hope that recipients, like Gary, translate their opportunity into passionate and compassionate patient care.
