Dr. Harold Dean (Ike) Phelps, MD passed away on September 18, 2013 at Avalon Care Center in Pullman. Memorial services with military honors will be held on Saturday October 19, 2013 at 2:00pm at the Pullman Presbyterian Church.

Harold was born on February 10, 1926 in Madison South Dakota, and was the third of eleven children born to Donald and Hazel (Anderson) Phelps. He attended Madison schools, leaving a semester early from his senior year of High School to join the Navy in 1944 during World War II. After training he served as a Radio operator aboard Naval aircraft along the Pacific coast of the US, where they scanned for enemy submarines and other threats to US security.

After the war, Ike resumed his studies at General Beadle College in Madison South Dakota, then the University of Oregon and finally University of South Dakota in Vermillion, where he completed his first 2 years of Medical school.

He marred Nancy Jane Baughman on August 13th, 1950 at the home of a friend in Minnesota. The next year daughter Nancy Caroline was born, and soon after Ike and Nancy moved to Dallas, Texas, where he completed his M.D. and where daughters Vicki and Sandy were born.

The family moved from Dallas to Monroe, Louisiana for his residency, then to Riverdale , North Dakota, then to Winner, South Dakota., where he was in General Practice and where daughter Judy and son Mike were born.

Ike decided to pursue a Radiology specialty so the family moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he took a position at Penrose Hospital. During that time period, he spent months studying Nuclear Medicine in Oakridge , Tennessee and at Cincinnati General Hospital before becoming a full-fledged Radiology partner at Penrose in Colo. Springs.
The family remained in Colorado for seven years, another son, Jeff, was born and then Ike went on a nation-wide search to find what he considered a safe and wholesome environment to continue raising his family. After a year of travel from Florida to Washington State, he chose a 55 acre property in Albion with a job as the Radiologist for both Pullman, Wa. And Moscow , Idaho. In addition to those two hospitals and WSU student health department, Ike also acted as physician for the WSU football team and had a weekly route to Grangeville, Cottonwood and Orofino, Idaho hospitals to read their X-Rays every Tuesday.

Ike served as Chief of Staff for both Pullman Memorial Hospital and Gritman Medical Center in Moscow. Ike continued with the huge responsibility of being the only radiologist in the area until he invited his brother-in law, Dr. Richard Lillard to partner with him in the late 1960's. In 1968 Ike's youngest son, Shawn was born.

Ike was an advocate of alternative health treatments, was a practitioner of Hypnotherapy as an adjunct to medical therapy for decades and preferred using herbal supplements to cure illness when possible. He practiced Clinical Hypnotherapy as a side interest and inspired his wife and oldest daughter to join in that profession. Ike was an astute diagnostician, freely offering consultation and a healing hand to anyone in need. His sense of humor and love of playing jokes on loved ones will always be remembered.

In addition to his demanding profession and raising of seven children, Ike was always busy building or fixing something on his farm in Albion. He and Nancy had a huge annual vegetable garden and during the decades of life there he built a racetrack for go-carts, built a putting green in the backyard, put in a swimming pool and built the impressive enclosure by himself. He terraced the backyard, transforming it from a horse pasture to expansive lush lawn and garden. He and Nancy planted seedlings, including some brought from Colorado, that have grown to be majestic trees adorning the property.

Over the years, he raised horses, cattle and Doberman pinschers. At times there were chickens, turkens and rabbits. There were always pet dogs and barn cats who eventually wound up in the house. Ike nurtured injured birds and adopted a dove, showered affection on his pet African pygmy hedgehog and enjoyed the daily visits of the wildlife abounding on his rural property.

Ike was a member of the Pullman Presbyterian church where he served as Deacon and Elder; the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis; Pine Grove Grange #15; Fraternal Order of the Elks and the Albion Historical Society.

He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Nancy, daughters Nancy Caroline (husband AlaaHassan), Vicki and Judy; sons Mike, Jeff (wife Lesley) and Shawn (wife Stacy); six grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. He is also survived by three sisters and three brothers.

He was preceeded in death by his parents, three brothers, one sister and his daughter, Sandra.

The family requests memorial contributions in Harold's honor be directed to the Pullman Presbyterian Church or to the Pullman Regional Hospital Foundation.