Dr. Catherine J. Condon

Dr. Catherine J. Condon died on Saturday February 18, 2017 at Deerfield Retirement Center where she resided for the last two years of her life. She was a truly remarkable woman who will be greatly missed by her many nieces and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, and great-great-nieces and great-great-nephews. Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated on Thursday February 23, at 10:00 a.m. at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in West Des Moines. Family will greet friends at the church beginning at 9:00 a.m. that day. Catherine was born in Des Moines, Iowa on December 24, 1931, the youngest of four children of Daniel and Gertrude Condon. She attended St. Joseph Academy where she excelled as a student and was a standout softball player. After high school, she joined the Medical Mission Sisters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and she initially attended college there before leaving the convent and finishing her undergraduate studies at St. Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri. She then attended medical school at Marquette University Medical School (now known as the Medical College of Wisconsin) where she was one of only 3 women in a class of 100 students. After excelling in medical school, Catherine completed her medical internship at Los Angeles County Hospital in Los Angeles, California. She then completed internal medicine residency training at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, Iowa. After residency, she completed nephrology fellowship training at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. After completing her training, Dr. Condon accepted a faculty position at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She left after two years to return to Des Moines because of the declining health of her parents. During the time she lived in Des Moines, Dr. Condon had two major accomplishments for which she was extremely proud. First, she opened the first hemodialysis unit in the state outside of Iowa City at Iowa Lutheran Hospital in 1971. Second, she helped develop the University of Iowa-Des Moines Internal Medicine Residency Program based at Iowa Methodist Medical Center. She served as the first program director of the residency program. In 1978, after both of her parents were deceased, Dr. Condon decided to leave the cold Iowa winters and she moved to Harlingen, Texas. She started the first hemodialysis unit in that area of Texas. After three years in Texas, Dr. Condon was recruited to Las Cruces, New Mexico to open another hemodialysis unit for that community. This unit opened in 1981 and she served as the medical director of this unit until she retired from practice in 2000. Catherine remained in New Mexico until 2014 when her health began failing and her nephews and niece in the Des Moines area convinced her to return to Iowa so they could be of more assistance to her. She lived in the Park Fleur Condominiums until May 2015 when her health began to further decline and she moved to Deerfield Retirement Community. She loved Deerfield and made many friends with the other residents and the staff that work there. She also loved the regular visits from her Des Moines-area nephews and niece including Dave (Linda) Craig and John (Mary Lynn) Craig and niece-in-law Jackie Craig of West Des Moines, niece-in-law Susie Craig of Grimes, and Steve (Mary Beth) Craig and Theresa (Pat) McGuire of Urbandale, Iowa. Catherine will be fondly remembered for her love of family and her loving support of her nephews and nieces. She was a strong believer in education and hard work. She began a wonderful tradition of providing significant financial support to assist her nephews and nieces with their educational expenses. She continued this tradition for her great-nephews and great-nieces. She was very proud of the accomplishments of her many nephews and nieces and their offspring. With her generous financial support, there are now doctors, nurses, physician assistants, athletic trainers, lawyers, engineers, actuaries, accountants, political consultants, college professors, and other professionals in her extended family. Catherine had a wonderful sense of humor but she was also a tough negotiator. She was an outstanding physician and a tireless advocate for her patients. A few nurses and hospital administrators incurred her wrath over the years but they always respected her for the wonderful physician she was and knew that she was not demanding any more of them than she demanded of herself. Catherine was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Bob who died in 1945 during World War II, her sister Ruth who died in 2004, and her sister Gertrude who died in 2008. She was also preceded in death by three nephews. She is survived by her long-time friend Norma Jean Meece, niece Kathleen LaRue of Arlington, Texas, nephew Brian (Louise) McGuire of Plano, Texas and her Des Moines-area niece and nephews. She is also survived by 11 great-nephews and 6 great-nieces and 27 great-great-nephews and nieces. Catherine will be greatly missed by her family. She always treated her nieces and nephews like her own children and she celebrated the successes of this generation and the subsequent generations. She was a tireless advocate for education and she established a wonderful legacy of what education, determination and hard work can accomplish. The family wishes to thank Deerfield Retirement Center for the wonderful care they provided to Catherine and to Dr. Sarah Garner who lovingly cared for Catherine during her final years. Memorial contributions may be made to Dowling Catholic High School which Catherine generously and lovingly supported during her life.