Posted on: Tuesday, December 11, 2001

Donald G. Fox, Kaiser physician, dead at 56

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

Dr. Donald G. Fox, a pediatrician and chief of Kaiser Permanente's Punawai Clinic, died in a traffic accident Nov. 25 in Baltimore. He was 56.

Fox was born in Pi'ihonua on the Big Island and grew up in Honolulu.

He attended the University Lab School, Pomona College and Johns Hopkins Medical School.

Fox did his residencies at the Children's Hospitals in Dallas and Columbus, Ohio. From 1973 to 1975, he served in the Air Force and worked as a doctor in Haiti, Okinawa and Wake Island.

In 1976, Fox returned to Hawai'i with his new wife, Linda, head of the Department of Health's Adult Mental Health Division.

He went to work at Kaiser and stayed employed there for 25 years.

Punawai clinic manager Rodney Chinen said Donald Fox spent most of his time as a pediatrician, rather than an administrator.

"Patients were always important to him," Chinen said. "Decisions that he made as an administrator definitely had a patient focus to it."

Chinen said Fox also was great with children and was always able to put them at ease. Many of the patients that he treated were children of staff members who were patients of Fox's.

"He'd always sit down and talk with the child, address the child and address the parent. He wouldn't just talk to the parent," Chinen said. "The kids loved him and because of that parents loved him."

During his spare time, Fox enjoyed hiking, camping and kayaking.

In addition to his wife, Fox is survived by sons, Bradley and David (Kou); and brother, state Rep. Galen Fox.

Services will be Monday at 5 p.m. at the Church of the Crossroads. Donations may be made to the Church of the Crossroads or the Nature Conservancy of Hawai'i.