Dr. Peter Cartwright (Doc)
Baldwin, 90, passed away peacefully and surrounded by family on April 15, 2019
in Michigan.
Doc was born August 17, 1928
in Freeport, New York, the youngest child of Charles and Esther (Cutter)
Baldwin. Raised on Long Island in New
York, he was the son of a ship captain and once had a job on a ship that
traveled to and from Central America loading and transporting bananas.
His love of animals was first fostered on a
farm on Long Island where his father got him the job fully intending to direct
him toward a career in Veterinary medicine – and it worked.
Doc was a veteran of the US Army and spent
time in Seoul, Korea during the Korean conflict.
A graduate of the College of Veterinary
Medicine at Michigan State University, he married Nancy Jane (Shannon) Baldwin
in 1953 and together they founded and operated Baldwin Clinic Veterinary
practice from 1953 until 1991. Although widely known for his playful singing to
pets and nicknames and child-like love of all animals (except
horses
), he was also an extraordinarily
progressive and innovative Veterinarian. He was among the first to successfully
implant a pacemaker in a dog and he helped a number of disabled animals to move
freely using a hind-leg “wheelie” device which he was once asked to showcase
for the NBC Today Show.
Beginning his
practice as a large animal doctor, he once knew every farmer (and cow) in
Quincy and in later years focused on dogs and cats and ultimately treated most
every kind of domestic beast in God’s kingdom — including birds and snakes and
iquanas. Anyone who ever brought a pet
to Baldwin Clinic would attest that there never was, nor ever will be, a
Veterinarian quite like Doc.
Always a passionate believer
in small town values and way of life, Doc was a civic leader and contributor in
many ways. He served as president of the
Quincy city council for many years and President of the Branch County School
Board. He founded and ran the Charlie Ryan Scholarship fund for Quincy High
School students and joined enthusiastically in almost every important
Quincy-related cause over the past 60 years.
He was particularly committed to Rotary and epitomized the Club’s motto
of “service above self.” He earned the club’s highest honor, a Paul Harris
Fellow, and served the club as president.
During his term he dubbed the Quincy branch “the world’s finest Rotary
Club” — a motto that has endured to this day.
Doc was a man of many
passions and great curiosity. After retiring
he became a master wordworker and created a series of lovingly-crafted pieces
that will live on in his family. He loved to fly kites and body surf on the
shores of Oahu, Hawaii and was even known and beloved there as Makapuu Pete.
He liked loud fireworks, a grilled hot dog,
and an MSU Spartan football victory. He
relished sharing a bawdy joke with the guys at the coffee shop and bantering
about any Spartan victory or Wolverine loss.
He adored playing Santa Claus for the community children at Christmas
time. He could make an exciting
adventure out of burning leaves, or growing a tomato, or running to the
hardware store. He rose every morning
with a job to do and an excitement about what the day would bring. He wrung
every ounce of life out of his 90 years.
Proud as he was of his
Veterinary practice and community service, Doc clearly would contend that his
greatest joy and legacy is his family—which he loved to say extended as far as
Honolulu, Hawaii. He was unabashedly
proud of his three sons and never missed an opportunity to brag about
them. He had abundant love to give and
was a devoted husband to his first wife Jane of 52 years and his second wife
Marie (Chambers) Baldwin who survives him.
Survivors include his second
wife, Marie, son and daughter-in-law Scott and Susan Baldwin of
Northville, MI; son and daughter-in-law Timothy and JoEllen Baldwin of
Bloomington, Indiana; and son and daughter-in-law Tyler and Jana Baldwin of Quincy,
MI and three step children. He had eight
grandchildren; 12 step grandchildren and six step great grandchildren, all of
whom he loved dearly and spoiled shamelessly.
He was preceded in death by
his first wife, Nancy Jane Shannon and siblings Cynthia Stephenson and David
Baldwin.
Visitations
will be Wednesday, April 17, 2019 from 4-8 PM at the Eagle Funeral Home-George White
Chapel, 111 E. Chicago St.,Quincy.
Funeral services will be held Thursday, April 18 at 11:00 AM at Union
Church, 8 Fulton Street, Quincy.
In
lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations in celebration of Doc’s
life be made to: The Quincy Library, 11
N. Main St, Quincy, MI 49082 or Heifer International.
The
family would like to thank all the caretakers at the Marshall Nursing and Rehabilitation
Community and the Maple Lawn Medical Care Facility for the loving care Doc
received over the past year.
