Dr. Philip L. Stevens, M.D.

Philip Lindbergh Stevens, M.D., 87, Tonganoxie, Kansas, died Thursday, July 2, 2015, at his home. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday, July 7, at the Christian Church Life Center, 204 E. Washington Street, Tonganoxie. Friends may call from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday at Quisenberry Funeral Home in Tonganoxie. Burial will be in Hubbel Hill Cemetery.
Dr. Stevens was born Sept. 8, 1927, in Oskaloosa, Kansas, the son of Delos Meeker Stevens, M.D., and Blanche Estelle Combs Stevens.
He graduated from Oskaloosa High School in 1945 and finished one semester at the University of Kansas before being drafted to serve in the U.S. Army in March 1946; he served one year and 17 days before being honorably discharged. He returned to KU, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1950. He graduated from the KU School of Medicine in 1954. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1950 and remained a proud member throughout his life.
After graduating from medical school, Dr. Stevens purchased a medical office in Tonganoxie. His first day in the office was July 1, 1955. His career as a family physician in a small Kansas town spanned 60 years and included his nurturing care of multiple generations of families. For the first nine years of his practice, he delivered babies, more than 300 of them, most of whose photos are displayed on one wall of his office. It was common for people to bring their children and grandchildren in to see their photos on the wall.
When Dr. Stevens began working in Tonganoxie, he charged $2 for office calls, and $5 for house calls. Often the house calls were at night, many of them to rural farmhouses. Back then, of course, no one had cell phones, and country roads were not well-marked. Dr. Stevens recently recalled that a farmer once met him at a designated site on the highway and led him to the patient’s house. After attending to the patient — at 2 in the morning — Dr. Stevens got lost, not realizing where he was until he reached a neighboring town. Once when the Stevens family was at a drive-in movie, a call came over the speakers saying that a patient was trying to reach Dr. Stevens.
From his modest office on Tonganoxie’s Fourth Street, Dr. Stevens’ goal was not to become extremely wealthy, but to care for his patients and help a community. A large percentage of the care he provided was never reimbursed, though he seldom complained. His role model was his father, who graduated from the Kansas Medical College in 1912 and practiced medicine in Oskaloosa until he died in 1955. Dr. Stevens thought it would be wonderful if he and his father could provide medical care in eastern Kansas for a span of a hundred years. They exceeded that.
Dr. Stevens remained dedicated to his medical practice throughout his life. He worked six days a week for more than 50 years, and only when he passed the age of 80, he cut back to working five days a week. After that, he felt like he was on vacation.
He was a gifted clinician and an excellent listener. When talking to him, you always felt that you were the most important person in his life. He read constantly, subscribing to 40 magazines, saving salient articles for family and friends.
But the most striking feature about Dr. Stevens was his kindness. How often have we heard, “He says hello and shakes my hand, and I feel better already.”
On July 1, 2015, “Dr. Phil,” as he was affectionately known throughout the community, went to his office as usual. It was his 60th anniversary of practicing medicine in Tonganoxie. It was a good day; he saw a lot of patients, and he enjoyed the cards, calls and newspaper article celebrating the anniversary. He went to sleep that night, jubilant about having completed 60 years of practicing medicine. He never woke up.
He married Betty Jean DeLisle in Bentonville, Arkansas, on March 4, 1950. Throughout his career, she was a crucial support for him.
Survivors include his wife, Betty Stevens, of the home; their six children, Philip Delos Stevens, Roeland Park, Kansas; Charles Landon Stevens, Gjovik, Norway; Lisa DeLisle Stevens Scheller, Tonganoxie; Matthew William Stevens, Kansas City, Missouri; Daniel Edward Stevens, Tonganoxie; and Loralee DeLisle Stevens, Tonganoxie; 13 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Dr. Stevens always said his life’s ambition was to have five children and to put them all through college. He did, plus a bonus child, Loralee, born when he was 40. All six children would agree that they had excellent parents. Betty and Phil loved them unconditionally, not for who they might become, but for who they are.
He was a beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. His passing leaves an indescribable void in the lives of those who knew and loved him.
About 20 years prior to his death, a patient asked him when he was going to retire. He said, “When they put my name up in Quisenberry’s window across the street.” That’s the funeral home. His name is there now, and the good doctor has retired.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to the Dr. Philip L. Stevens Scholarship Fund at Tonganoxie High School in care of Quisenberry Funeral Home, 604 East Fourth Street, Tonganoxie 66086.
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