Friday Flashback! Edwin L. Foster, Arvadas Man of the Year, 1953 Theres a recurring theme, now, when Im researching these Men of the Year. Chet Hoskinson, Ralph Ashton, and now Edwin L. Foster all have me scratching my head, wondering where they found the time. Between their careers, volunteer stints, elected positions, families, social lives, interests, and hobbies, it might have been a real challenge for them to slow down long enough for meals and sleep. Well into his eighties, Foster worked as a physician from his home office at 7401 Grandview. He owned the first automobile in town, but for many years he made house calls in his horse and buggy. By 1950, he had delivered more babies than any other doctor in Jefferson County, losing only two babies in delivery throughout his career. The L in his name stands for Lincoln. Why? Years before he was born, Fosters mother Elizabeth was widowed. Her daughter Mary was left fatherless and considered a ward of the state of Illinois. The attorney appointed to watch over Mary, and whom Elizabeth became very fond of, was Abraham Lincoln. Later, Elizabeth remarried, and Edwin was born in 1864, about five months after Lincolns assassination. Foster graduated from medical school in 1890, married Hortense Brown in 1891, and set up a medical practice in Missouri. In 1895 he developed a serious lung infection and came alone to Colorado in hopes that the climate here would save his life. Within about a year he was partly recovered and took a job as mine doctor in Hooper, Colorado. In time, he was rejoined by his wife, mother, and half-sister. Two sons and two daughters were born, but the sons succumbed to scarlet fever. In 1907, Foster bought the home and practice of Arvada physician Dr. Richard Russell. Not content to merely ply his trade at home, he also volunteered at the Craig Tent Colony, a treatment community for tuberculosis patients. In addition, he served six years on the school board, was an elder at the Arvada Presbyterian Church for 35 years, served on the Arvada town board as health officer for fifteen years, and was official doctor for the Denver Tramway System, the Colorado and Southern Railroad, and the Leyden Coal Mine. He was a charter member, and later Master, of the Arvada Masonic Lodge. Dr. Foster loved children, and his daughter wrote that whenever a child needed glasses, a brace, or special shoes, her parents paid for them if the childs parents could not. Many patients paid with food, some could not pay at all. Foster was considered an excellent diagnostician, and surgeons often sought his expert opinion. He also seems to have had a great deal of empathy and understanding for those with psychological problems, at a time when that perspective would not have been universally accepted. Sitting quietly in a corner of the Arvada Historical Society is Fosters heavy wooden desk, the doctors gloves neatly concealed in a drawer. Upon his death, one daughter had the desk sent to her home in California. Later, though, the family asked the Historical Society if the desk would be welcome here, and they shipped it back free of charge. Another fine memorial is the E. L. Foster Elementary School at 5300 Saulsbury Court, built in 1955. Dr. and Mrs. Foster passed away within a few months of each other in 1960, survived by two daughters, six grandchildren, and sixteen great-grandchildren. Sources: Biographical information written by Fosters daughter Ruth; Denver Post articles from 1954 and 1960; Arvada Profiles article by Gayle Laidig; Footprints on the Way, by Lois Lindstrom Kennedy; verbal information from the Arvada Historical Society.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 12:14:11 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015