Dr. Donald Taeke Bosch, a beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather passed away at Khoula Hospital on February 6, 2012. He was a friend to all who met him and spent his life serving others, and he was known for his warm smile, quick sense of humor, and his empathy for those in need. As a specialist surgeon who worked in Oman for most of his medical career, he operated on at least one member of every extended Omani family, and saved many lives at a time when medical services were limited. He was the first American to be awarded the Order of Oman for his service to the country by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said in 1972.
Dr. Bosch is also widely known for authoring a number of books on seashells of Oman and the Gulf Region. But his life history also includes experience as a decorated World War II soldier, an accomplished public speaker and competitive tennis player.
Don, as he was known by his friends, arrived with his wife Eloise and children in Oman in January, 1955, having spent the previous three years in Iraq learning Arabic and working in the local mission hospital. They had arrived in the Middle East in 1951 as missionaries under the Reformed Church of America and would continue as missionaries until their retirement. Don worked for many years as a surgeon in the American Mission Hospital in Mutrah (later called Ar-Rahma Hospital), while his wife Eloise was a teacher in the American Mission school in Muscat.
Dr. Bosch worked alongside the legendary Dr. Wells Thoms, who had been in Oman for many years. When Dr. Thoms retired in 1970, Don followed him as Chief Medical Officer of the hospital and Don later became the Medical Officer in Charge of Khola Hospital, having successfully helped to incorporate the Mission hospitals into the new Ministry of Health hospital program.
Upon retiring from his position at Khola Hospital in 1983, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos awarded the Bosches with Omani nationality and provided a home for them to live in Haramel, in recognition for their many years of service to the people of Oman. This was a very happy time for Don and Eloise as they would spend half of the year in the United States with family and friends there, and the other half in their much loved Oman. Don also served as an adviser to H.E. the Minister of Health during his retirement years.
Donald was born in Amoy, China, on December 9, 1917, the second of five children, and lived there until he was 12 years old. His father, Dr. Taeke Bosch, was a doctor in charge of a Christian mission hospital, and his mother, Margaret Brown Bosch was a teacher who home-schooled her five children. When Donald was still a child he established his life goal to become a doctor like his father. At a very early age he and his siblings were instilled with the ideal of spending their lives in service to others. Moving to the United States at age twelve, he moved quickly through secondary school and attended the State University of Iowa, where he was awarded an MD degree in 1941 at age 23.
Don was married on April 11, 1942 to Eloise Boynton, daughter of Rev. Arthur Boynton and Elizabeth Bell Boynton, in New York City, after a courtship of several years while they were both in University. They were married for about 70 years.
Don’s medical internship and surgical specialization was interrupted by the Second World War. In 1942 Don joined the US Army Medical Corps, where he was assigned to the 78th Infantry Division. After several assignments in the US, his unit was transferred in 1944 to the European theater where he served on the front line as medical officer responsible for treatment of several thousand soldiers. His unit saw action at the Battle of the Bulge and later was the first Allied division to cross into Germany at Remagen. Don was promoted to Captain, then Major, and was awarded the Bronze Star for valor during his service. In 1946 he returned to the US and left the Army to continue his specialization in surgery, first at Bellevue Hospital in New York and then at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Newark, New Jersey, completing his residency in 1951. In1950 he was honored by being named the “Outstanding Young Man of the Year” by the Newark, N.J. Jaycees.
On completing his six years of medical specialization in surgery, Don accepted an assignment as a surgeon in the Arabian Gulf under the World Missions program of the Reformed Church and arrived in Amarah, Iraq in September 1951 with Eloise and their three small children, David, Paul and Bonnie. After 3 years of Arabic language training in Amarah and in Lebanon, the Bosch family arrived in January 1955 in Muscat where Don would work at the hospital in Mutrah, serving alongside Dr. Thoms and other expatriate American and Indian doctors. Although most of his medical career was spent in Oman, he also served one year as CMO of the American Mission Hospital in Kuwait and two years as CMO of the American Mission Hospital in Bahrain. In 1958 Dr. Bosch was named a Member of the American College of Surgeons.
Don became a collector of seashells as a result of the family’s weekend visits to the local Omani beaches, where he noticed the many seashells on the shore. He wrote to the Museum of Natural History in New York City, asking them if they would be interested in specimens collected from Oman. The Museum responded with enthusiasm, advising that they would be happy to identify any specimens that he sent, as their scientists had very little knowledge of the seashells of Oman. Thus began a love affair with the world of conchology. Don would be internationally recognized as an expert on seashells of the Arabian Gulf, and seashells would forever be a family interest and occupation. In 1982 Don and Eloise co-authored their first book on Oman’s seashells, Seashells of Oman.
This effort was followed by Seashells of Southern Arabia in 1989. In 1995 Don organized and co-authored the comprehensive volume that described over 1,000 different local species, Seashells of Eastern Arabia. Don and Eloise, with the help of their children and even grandchildren, discovered over 20 species of seashells in Oman’s waters that were new to science, many of which were named after family members. One of the most beautiful, well-known species is named Punctada eloisae after Don’s wife. In 2000, Don and Eloise, in response to interest about their lives, co-authored a book about their early days in Oman, The Doctor and The Teacher, Oman 1955-1970. At the request of His Excellency then the Minister of Health, Dr. Ali bin Muhammad bin Moosa, Don researched and wrote, The American Mission Hospitals in Oman, 1893 – 1974, which the Ministry published in 2001, covering the 81 years that the American Mission hospitals served Oman.
Don and Eloise made many friends in Oman over the years, and enjoyed many opportunities to share their home with friends from all over the globe. They enjoyed square dancing, tennis and shelling on into their 80’s. Don’s love of life and joy in meeting new people and trying new experiences was characteristic of him until the end of his life. Dr. Bosch will be missed by many people who knew him as someone who had a deep sense of service to others, always had a kind greeting, a warm and sympathetic heart, and a wonderful, self-deprecating sense of humor. His faith in God sustained him throughout his life. He was a deeply loved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, and his death is a grievous loss to his family.
Don is survived by his beloved wife Eloise Bosch, and by his three children, David Donald Bosch (Leslie), Paul Steven Bosch (Cecilia), and Bonnie Eloise Bosch. He is also survived by five grandchildren, Hrand Carlos Apcar, Donna Eloise Apcar, Emily Apcar Arikat (Saoud), Aniesa Bosch Brassil (Eric), and Jonathan David Bosch, and two great grandchildren, Robert Charles Morales and Ryan Taeke Morales. Don was predeceased by his parents, his sisters Mary Bosch Wraith, Alice Bosch Clonan and his brother Franklin Bosch, but is survived by his youngest sister Katherine Bosch Crandall. He is also survived by a loving extended family.
The memorial service for Dr. Bosch will be held at the Bosch Hall at the Ghala Church at 7 pm on Saturday, February 11, 2012. The family will welcome those who wish to pay their respects at their home in Haramel, the Capital Area, from 4:30pm to 7:00pm on Thursday, February 9th and Friday, February 10, 2012.
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