Dr. David J. Ottensmeyer died peacefully in his sleep on Sunday afternoon, November 8, 2020. He was 90 years old. We will remember him as a loving and compassionate husband, father, grandfather, and uncle. We will not be able to gather to celebrate his life and honor his memory until it is safe to do so, but he should have a cathedral choir, a military band, and a church full of family and friends to mark his passing. For now, we are hoping to convey through these words the breadth and depth of his 90 years of life and the many things he accomplished through his constant striving for knowledge and excellence.
David Ottensmeyer was born in Nashville, Tennessee to Raymond and Glenda Ottensmeyer. He served as an acolyte, and sang in choirs of the Episcopal Churches his father served, in New Harmony, Indiana; Greenville, Ohio; Denison, Texas; Duluth, Minnesota; and Superior, Wisconsin. He graduated from Denfeld High School in Duluth, where he was a member of Minnesota’s 1947 State Champion Policy Debate Team. He attended the University of Minnesota and graduated in 1951 from what is now the University of Wisconsin-Superior (then Wisconsin State University), with a B.A., triple majoring in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics.
He had a distinguished military career, serving first in the United States Air Force, where he flew air refueling tankers from 1952-1955. It was while he was in the Air Force that he met his bride Mary Jean Langley of Superior, Wisconsin. They married on June 30, 1954. After medical school, he joined the Army National Guard, serving as a medical officer in Wisconsin from 1960-1975 and a staff surgeon in New Mexico from 1975-1976. He was an executive medical officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Medical Corps, where he served from 1977-1990, eventually reaching the rank of Colonel.
Dr. Ottensmeyer graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and completed his residency in neurosurgery at University Hospitals in Madison in 1965. He served on the medical staffs of the Marshfield Clinic and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Marshfield, Wisconsin from 1965-1976, where he became Chairman of both the Neurosciences Department and Division of Neurological Surgery, Medical Director, and President and CEO. He was a physician whose expertise was clothed in great dignity and empathy.
In 1975, he completed a program in Health Services Management at Harvard Business School, and in 1976 became the President and CEO of Lovelace Medical Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he served until 1986. During his time with Lovelace Medical Center, he was on the Board of Trustees of the American Group Practice Association from 1978-1984, serving as its president from 1983-1984. He was a charter member and regent of the American College of Physician Executives, serving as its president from 1984-1985. He served on dozens of corporate boards, committees, and advisory boards, including the Albuquerque Academy Board of Trustees from 1977-1984. In 1985, he received a Master of Science in Health Services Management degree from St. Francis College in Joliet, Illinois. He traveled, wrote, and spoke extensively about managed care, group practice, and integrated health care best practices. He also found time to lend his beautiful baritone voice to the St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral Choir in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
In 1986, Dr. Ottensmeyer became the Senior VP and Chief Medical Officer of EQUICOR in Nashville, Tennessee. He served as President of The Travelers Health Companies in Hartford, Connecticut from 1990-1991, before returning to Albuquerque to head the Lovelace Institutes as President and CEO from August 1991 to December 1995.
In retirement, David and Mary moved to Fairhope, Alabama and then to Huntsville, Alabama to be near their daughters. David continued to study and grow, taking college German classes, painting, and completing the Episcopal Church’s Education for Ministry curriculum. Through constant tastings in restaurants around the world, as well as experimentation at home, he perfected his Caesar salad recipe. He was a handsome man with a warm laugh and a beautiful smile. He was an ardent dog lover. He touched so many lives as a healer, leader, and role model. He is and always will be our hero.
He was preceded in death by his parents, the Reverend Canon Raymond S. Ottensmeyer and Glenda Helpingstine Ottensmeyer; his sisters Joan Ottensmeyer Paul, and Kathryn (Kay) Taylor; and his nephew Mark Taylor. He is survived by his wife of 66 years Mary Langley Ottensmeyer; his daughters, Kathryn Joan Ottensmeyer (Hobby Presley), and Martha Langley Wilson (Peter); his grandchildren William David Pugh (Madaline), John Langley Pugh (Kristen), Kristyn Elizabeth Wilson, and Caroline Emily Wilson; and by his great granddaughter Kathryn Carlisle Pugh. He is also survived by his nephews, the sons of his sister Joan, Bill (Becky), Steve (Jill), and Tim (Tracy) Erickson, and by his niece and nephew, the children of his sister Kay, Nancy Groniger (Mik), and David Taylor (Pam).
David Ottensmeyer was a member of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
There will be a private family service.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in his honor to the University of Wisconsin-Superior Foundation or the Greater Huntsville Humane Society.
