Dr. Dominic V. Megale , 94, died peacefully Sunday morning in his home at Merrill Gardens in West Seattle. He was born to Guiseppe and Dominica (Pizzimenti) Megale in Reggio de Calabria, Italy on March 22, 1913. Dominic immigrated through Ellis Island to Coos Bay, Ore. in 1922. He lived in Seattle for more than 50 years.
As a young man, Dominic aspired to a career in dentistry. The years of the Great Depression caused him to leave school and launch a dance band where he played violin, clarinet and saxophone, and a trucking business in Coos Bay. During that time he joined the Oregon State Guard, a unit called to active duty even before the attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into WWII.
Dominic served in both WWII and the Korean War, retiring from the U.S. Army Reserves as lieutenant colonel, then joining the Washington State National Guard Reserve and retiring as a brigadier general in 1977. During the 1970s he was Chief of Dental Surgery for the U.S. National Guard.
Between active duty assignments, Dominic graduated from the University of Oregon Dental School and established a dental practice in Coos Bay. In 1954 Dominic moved to Seattle and with a friend, Dr. O. E. Royer, opened the West Seattle Dental Center. In 1982, it became the first dental group practice on the West Coast to be fully accredited through the American Academy of Dental Group Practices.
One of Dominic's most satisfying accomplishments was the establishment of the Joe Whiting Memorial Dental Clinic in West Seattle's High Point district. The University of Washington accredited the clinic for a teaching facility and dental student interns provided low-cost care under the direction and guidance of Dominic.
An ardent boater and family man, Dominic loved captaining the Codfather through the San Juan Island fishing holes. He also was actively involved with the American Dental Association, Washington Dental Association, Reserve Officers Association, West Seattle Rotary, and the Puget Sound Yacht Club.
Dominic's vivacious wife of 54 years, Mary Jean Turnbull Megale, passed away in 2005.
He is survived by his daughters, Cathy Getman of Alameda, Calif. and Marina Megale of Normandy Park, his son, Mark Megale of Seattle, his two sisters, Paulina Beard of West Seattle and Eleanor Murphy of Worcester Mass., and his brother, Dr. Joseph P. Megale of West Seattle. He also leaves a large extended family in Washington, Oregon and Italy.
A Rosary was held at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in West Seattle on Thursday, April 26 at 7 p.m. Funeral services and mass was held Friday, April 27 at 11 a.m. at Our Lady of Guadalupe followed by burial at Holyrood Cemetery.
Arrangements entrusted to Bonney-Watson Parker Chapel.
Please sign the online memorial guestbook at www.bonneywatson.com
