James Andrew Tweedie
Jan. 19, 1926-May 23, 2016
Palo Alto, California

James Andrew Tweedie passed away on May 23, 2016, in Palo Alto, California. He was 90 years old. He devoted his life to children and families, both his own and the many he helped bring into the world as a doctor. When he died, he was surrounded by his wife and four children.

Dr. Tweedie was born at Hollywood Hospital in Los Angeles in 1926. He was raised in El Monte with his sister, Joyce, and younger twin brothers, Don and Dale. After graduating from El Monte Union High School, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces, trained as a pilot, and served in the military for two years towards the end of World War II. When the war was over he bought a surplus airplane with his friend Gordon Porter and flew across the country, landing and resting in open fields, before resuming his life in Southern California.

He studied at the University of Southern California with the support of the G.I. Bill, and received a bachelor's degree in 1950, a master's in 1954 and a medical degree in 1957, all from U.S.C. During a residency at Kaiser in Los Angeles, he met his future wife, Isabelle Trotti, a lawyer and Chicago native. He specialized in obstetrics and gynecology and accepted an academic position at the Research and Educational Hospital at the University of Illinois, Chicago. He and Isabelle were wed in Oak Park, Illinois, in 1963 and remained married until his death 53 years later. Their first child, a daughter named Elizabeth, was born in Chicago.

In 1964 Dr. Tweedie returned to Los Angeles with his wife and daughter to raise a family and establish a medical practice. Three more children -- a daughter, Marissa, and sons James and Patrick -- were welcomed into the family. He spent most of his career on staff at Saint John's and Santa Monica Hospitals, and he was chief of obstetrics and gynecology at both during the 1980s. He was also a longtime clinical professor at UCLA and a member of many professional organizations in his field, including the Pacific Coast Obstetrical and Gynecological Society. Beloved by his patients, he had practiced medicine for over 50 years when he retired in 2010 at the age of 85. He delivered thousands of babies and took great joy in watching them grow up in the community around him.

He is survived by his wife, Isabelle; his daughter, Elizabeth Plaschke, her husband, Bob, and their four sons, James, Andrew, Robert and John, of Menlo Park; his daughter, Marissa Brandon, her husband, Michael, and their daughters, Fiona and Bay, of San Francisco; his son, James Tweedie Jr., his wife, Sasha Welland, and their children, Lino and Zola, of Seattle; his youngest son, Patrick Tweedie, of Palo Alto; and his sister, Joyce Evans, and her husband, Jim, and family. He is also survived by his sister-in-law, Marlene Shepard, and the families of his two brothers, Don and Dale Tweedie, who predeceased him.

Tags: veteran, teacher/educator