Obituary of Les Garwood

On a beautiful early Autumn morning, we embraced as we always did and wished ourselves a 'good day' before he took off. Today he wanted to bike to work, something he hadn't done for several months. He loved his bike, referring to it as his 'titanium pony', reveling in the lightness of being that only flying through space can produce. We waved one more time as he disappeared over the rise in the road. Gravity pulling him down from the Southwest Hills of Eugene, he sped past my daughter's house in the flats where Carmen, his granddaughter was getting ready for school. The ride was easy once he swung onto the bike path, too easy, so he picked up the pace. The air was clean and soothing. Today was a short workday and he would be coming home early. Early enough to get some serious work done on his film in time for the film festival. He smiled but chided himself for not riding his bike more often, for sitting, sitting, sitting at the computer, at work and at home. Maybe he should book it, proving to himself that he still 'had it', that he was not as old as Medicare said he was. His muscular calves, ever more strongly defined, demanded that his heart keep up. It was too warm for a Fall morning but he pushed on, arriving at work too sweaty, too tired. No time to worry about that though, he had to change his clothes and get ready to see patients. So he closed his office door, plopped down into his all too familiar office chair, bent over to remove his shoes, felt the hideously crushing pain in his chest and died.Les was raised in and around New York City. He often related stories of his escapades there as a young boy, along with his brother Tommy. To say they experienced NYC to it's fullest is an understatement. Today they would be labeled as incorrigibles but then, well, they were just boys. His parents, John Lester Garwood and Lillian Osgood Garwood, out of sheer necessity and dire straits, moved the family often during Les' childhood, sometimes in the middle of the night to escape the landlord. Les lost a lot of toys as a result because they couldn't fit them in the taxi. He attended 19 schools, dropping out when his father died. He taught himself how to repair TVs and radios, living in his car until finally receiving a Social Security stipend allowing him to get back on track, finish high school and gain admission to Northern Arizona University. He graduated in 1973 with a B.S. in Psychology and triple majors in Art, Anthropology and Secondary Education. After a short stint as a social worker in Flagstaff and Holbrook, he taught middle and high school art and science until 1981 in Casa Grande, AZ.His rather nomadic childhood fostered an ability to make friends easily, setting the stage for the rest of his life. Les had an abiding interest in science and how things work, taking things apart, fixing them and reassembling them all his life, including electronics, machinery and most importantly, the human psyche. To that end, he graduated pre-med at Southern Oregon University, then SOSC, and medical school at the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific in Pomona in 1985 with honors. He was Director of Medical Education at Rio Hondo Memorial Hospital briefly before earning board certification in Psychiatry at U.C. Davis Medical Center in 1991. At UC Davis he trained medical students, interns and residents while providing inpatient psychiatric care. Since then, Les worked exclusively in public service, attending to the needs of the economically disenfranchised, including as Medical Director of Psychiatric Service at the Sioux San Indian Health Hospital in Rapid City, SD, designing and initiating the first telemedicine program in that area. He moved to Oregon in 1991 to provide general outpatient services to adults and adolescents at Jackson and Josephine County Mental Health Departments and acute psychiatric care at Rogue Valley Medical Center until 1995. At that time he began a tenure at the Veterans Administration/SORCC in White City, the VA/RVAMC in Roseburg and the VA/CBOC in Eugene, Oregon. After ten years at the VA, he began work at Lane County Behavioral Health. Les treated thousands of wounded warriors who will remember him for his unflinching kindness and concern. He will be missed by many for his uncanny ability to reach out to anyone and know just the right thing to help cushion the unfairness and atrocities of life, especially for the mentally ill and emotionally distraught.Passionate about the nefarious effects of religion on society, he subscribed to the progressive philosophies of Humanism, Naturalism, and Determinism. He firmly believed in our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity without the need for the supernaturalism that is embodied in religion. He engaged in spirited debates with other learned individuals on this topic both in online forums and with anyone who cared to discuss it. Les wanted to change the world in this respect and to those whose lives he touched, he certainly did.Doubting that he would live a long life, he crammed as much as possible into what time he was offered. Aside form work, his interests centered around art and communication on several levels. He was a member of the Valley Radio Ham Club in Eugene, spending many evenings talking with others around the world on his homemade K1 receiver. Always interested in the power and impact that movies have on society, he joined a local film production group, The Shaggy Dog Project, and immersed himself in all things having to do with making film. Most recently, he wrote and directed a short film, "Cold Fusion" that will premiere at the Eugene International Film Festival this November.Les is preceded in death by his parents and his oldest brother, Henry Garwood. He is survived by his wife and love, JoAnne "Annie" Garwood, stepchildren Amber and Aaron Hewitt, son Charlie Garwood and his first wife, Kathleen Wilson Garwood, as well as brothers Thomas and Bruce Garwood; nephews Forrest and Scott Garwood; nieces Catherine Forkush and Becky; and Carmen Hewitt, his granddaughter, with whom he spent many hours delighting with his antics, art and film-making.There will be a public viewing Saturday, October 11 from 1-5 PM at Musgrove's Family Mortuary, 1152 Olive St., Eugene, OR. A Celebration of Life will be held on his birthday, December 13, 2014 at a venue to be determined, involving good food, camaraderie and a sharing of your memories of this extraordinary man. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to charities that serve our veterans and the mentally ill.Arrangements entrusted to Musgrove Family Mortuary. Please access the obituary and you are invited to sign the guestbook at musgroves.com