ISMA Past President Fred Dahling, MD, died June 20 at Storypoint Fort Wayne West, less than two weeks shy of his 92nd birthday. 

A second-generation physician, Dr. Dahling practiced family medicine in New Haven for 36 years before his retirement in 1996, and served as president of the ISMA from 1988 to 1989. Before entering private practice, he served three years in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in Stuttgart, Germany.

ISMA Executive Committee member William Pond, MD, grew up in New Haven when Dr. Dahling and his father, C.W. Dahling, were the town physicians. 

Dr. Pond remembered him as “the physician whom everyone loved and admired in his community, while his leadership was recognized throughout the state.”

“I remember falling down the stairs in third grade and being taken semiconscious to the ‘Dahling Building,’ in the same building as my piano teachers,” Dr. Pond said. “After a thorough exam and compassionate reassurance to my parents, I knew at that moment that I wanted to be a physician.”

Dr. Dahling received his medical degree from Indiana University in 1956. In an obituary posted online, his family noted Dr. Dahling was a passionate fan of Indiana University football and basketball, and said he had been in attendance for all eight of the Hoosiers’ appearances in the NCAA Final Four, from their first championship under coach Branch McCracken in 1940 to the 2002 national runners-up.

Dr. Dahling served on the Commission for a Drug-Free Indiana, appointed by then-Gov. Evan Bayh. He was also a member of the Fort Wayne Medical Society and the Indiana Academy of Family Physicians.

Dr. Dahling is survived by his wife Suzanne, five children and 11 grandchildren.

A visitation and funeral service will be held Monday, July 3, at Harper’s Community Funeral Home in New Haven.