Dr. John Doyle (10/11/1928-2/18/2004) 

by Tom McCurry

Dr. John Doyle was one of the founding members of Greater Louisville Bonsai Society. He served in every capacity during his membership in our club, including president. He was the donor of many of the books in our club library, made many hours of video of our club functions, conducted numerous workshops, lecture/demonstrations and was our picnic auctioneer. His contributions to our club are too numerous to mention here. We all owe him a debt of gratitude.

Someone once said that in our lifetime, if you are lucky enough to have two true friends, you have been blessed. For me Dr. John Doyle was one such friend. John Doyle was not only a bonsai buddy, he was also a mentor to me as well as others in our club. I started growing bonsai as a hobby in 1976, and soon afterward decided to join the Bonsai Society. After a couple of meetings, I met John and soon learned that he truly loved the art of bonsai and he knew his stuff. He taught me, and many others in the club a lot about bonsai. John was the kind of person who was always there when called upon and was ready and willing to share his vast knowledge about Bonsai when asked.

Several years ago I made the unfortunate mistake of finding myself in the path of an 18” diameter oak tree as it began to fall. As you might guess, I was knocked unconscious and lucky to be alive. When I regained consciousness, I found myself lying on the ground with lacerations to my face that took 140 stitches to close. In the ambulance on the way to the hospital, I finally figured out where I was and what had happened and I began to think about the damage that had been done to my face and what the resulting scars would look like and I became very depressed. A few days later I came home from the hospital and as I was lying alone in my bed, recovering from my wounds and feeling pretty low about my current situation, I heard a knock at the door and in walked Dr. Doyle. I was surprised and happy to see him. Although we were “bonsai” friends, I really never expected he would show up at my door. John had taken time from his very busy schedule as a pediatrician, in the middle of his day to sit with me and visit. We talked for quite some time about Bonsai, what was going on in the world and just stuff and we laughed a little about the stupidity of my letting a tree fall on me. After a while John left and I began to feel better about myself and forgot my problems and what seemed at that time to be the end of the world. He continued to call to check on my condition for several months. He never knew how much this meant to me and I am sorry I never told him. For many years to follow, John and I continued to call each other to talk Bonsai and just to shoot the breeze, as he would say. But I knew deep down that when he called me, he was doing what he always did best. He was being the true friend that he was to so many people, always thinking of the other person first and giving unselfishly of his time. I will never forget my friend.

Good bye for now John; you touched so many of our lives. We all miss you.