Alexander Greer

Alexander “Sandy” P. Greer, MD, (Age 92) October 19, 1927 - February 6, 2020

Sandy was a father, gentleman, and sportsman with a kind, thoughtful, and intellectually curious manner. He loved his family, his wife of 65 years, and his profession in internal medicine. Sandy had a great fondness for golden retrievers, horses, and life in the country with his wife, Dotty. Sandy retired after 35 years with Associated Internists, P.S. in 1996, receiving the Laureate Award from the American College of Physicians for his abiding commitment to excellence in medical care in 2004. In retirement, he resumed his clarinet and watercolor painting and was an avid skier, golfer, and angler into his early 90s. He passed away in his home surrounded by family and a few retrievers after a two-decade-long battle with metastatic prostate cancer.  

Sandy was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, on October 19, 1927, to Edith Florianne Traub and Robson Lineweaver Greer. He grew up in St. Davids, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Episcopal Academy. After matriculating at Yale University, he was called for a tour with the Army in Colorado, where he taught skiing. After being discharged, Sandy completed his Bachelor of Arts in the study of Psychology at Yale College in 1950, and his medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine in 1955. He married Dotty in 1954 and moved west in search of powder snow, a medical residency at Virginia Mason, and training at the University of Washington in Seattle. In 1959, with two sons and a daughter on the way, Sandy joined the practice of Stiles, Olson, Pearson & Johnson in Spokane, Washington. He went on to become the governor of the Washington State Chapter of the American College of Physicians as well as serving as the archivist/historian for the North Pacific Society of Internal Medicine. An athlete and avid sportsman, Sandy played squash, skied, climbed, and fished throughout the Northwest. 

Sandy is survived by his wife, Dorothy Latimer Greer; two siblings, Robson L. Greer, Jr. and Florianne G. Meldrum; three children, Timothy (Caroline), William (Tracy), and Elizabeth; and eight grandchildren, Logan, Alexander, William, Henry, Robson, Mathew, Anne, and Kathryn. He will be dearly missed by his wife, siblings, children, and grandchildren. 

The family has postponed the memorial service due to the coronavirus.  Please check back for updated service information.  We are especially thankful for the care and support we received from the Hospice of Spokane. Contributions in Sandy’s memory may be made to the “Alexander P. Greer, MD Endowed Scholarship Fund” in support of medical students pursuing primary care at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, or to the Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park. 

Visit Alexander’s tribute page at www.hennesseyfuneralhomes.com to leave a message of condolence for the family.

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