Dr. Kate Pelham Newcomb 1885-1956
Kate Newcomb, born Kate Pelham in Kansas, grew up in Buffalo, New York. Her mother died when Kate was very young. Later, when a high-school friend also died, she told her father she wanted to be a doctor. He said no, so she became a teacher, but then she stopped teaching to help her father after his second wife died. Newcomb finally convinced her father to let her go to medical school at the University of Buffalo. After getting her medical degree in 1917, she moved to Detroit for training at the women's hospital, working in a part of the hospital that helped single mothers. She met and married her husband and later moved with him to his hometown of Boulder Junction, near Eagle River, Wisconsin.
After losing her first son, Newcomb took a break from medicine for several years. When her community needed her, she returned, traveling by snowshoes, canoe, and snowmobile to reach patients throughout the region. She later opened an office in Woodruff and became the only doctor for nearly 7,000 people. She delivered more than 3,000 babies without losing a single mother and helped improve the town’s health by supporting clean water and starting vaccination programs.
As Dr. Kate got older, it became harder for her to travel in harsh weather see patients, so she focused on building a hospital. With help from her patients and the community, construction started, but money ran out before it was finished. In the fall of 1952, a local geometry class started the “Million Penny Parade” to raise another $10,000. Their hard work drew national attention and led to Dr. Kate’s appearance on “This Is Your Life” in March 1954. The show inspired people across the country to donate, raising over $100,000 and making Lakeland Memorial Hospital a reality in 1954. Dr. Kate passed away two years later, having achieved her goal.
