Dr. Dennis Dalphond, family medicine physician, capped his 37 years of caring for patients from his office in North Judson at a retirement party hosted by his long-time office staff on February 20.
During a two hour open house, a steady stream of patients and neighbors filled the office waiting room to standing room only as they streamed in to thank Dr. Dalphond and offer congratulations on his retirement. Many reminisced with stories of gratitude for caring for their families for years.
Dr. Dalphond has lived and practiced medicine in the North Judson community for thirty seven years where he has cared for thousands of families in the area. As a family practitioner he treated patients of every age, even delivering babies. Dr. Dalphond explained that “I’ve looked after families for a lot of years and after a while those families became my family too. I know their stories, their children, and often their grandchildren. That’s what has made family medicine really meaningful to me.” It wasn’t unusual for Dr. Dalphond’s patients to travel to North Judson for an office visit with him after moving as far away as South Bend, Merrillville or Lafayette.
Helen Lee, a longtime colleague at his office, recalled about Dalphond, “He always liked to make the children laugh and the children loved it!” She added, “But the most important thing I remember, that has always stuck in my mind coming from such a busy man is when he would ask me ‘What is the most precious gift you can give anyone?’ His answer: ‘your time’. No matter how busy things were he always gave us and his patients his time. Now he gets to use it on himself!”
Dalphond, a father of five and grandfather of four, plans to spend his retirement spending time with family and friends and perhaps traveling a bit, including a trip to visit relatives back in his hometown of St. Albert, Alberta Canada.
