Dr. Elmer Rambo “Bo” Lindsay passed away suddenly but peacefully in Monterey County on March 23, 2016. He was a beloved husband, father and grandfather, a popular physician, a prolific painter, avid fly fisherman, collector and tennis bum.
Born in Philadelphia, PA and raised in Ohio and Pennsylvania, he lived for more than 50 years in Turlock and Pacific Grove, CA. The son of a minister, raised during the depression, he developed a particular appreciation for everyday people. A proud alumnus of Princeton University, he received his M.D. at Columbia University and after a stint in the Army he joined a practice in Turlock. He was inspired as a boy by Dr. Albert Schweitzer and for him medicine was always first and foremost about helping people. Even after retirement he continued his work as a volunteer physician at the RotaCare free clinic in Seaside.
As a youth he was an Eagle Scout which developed into a lifelong love of the outdoors and specifically fly fishing. Throughout his life he travelled the western U.S. and made several trips to New Zealand in search of the elusive trout.
After medicine his passion was painting, which he did all of his adult life, particularly after his retirement. His works won prizes in several local competitions but he painted for the sheer pleasure of creation. He was inspired by and collected some of the early California impressionist painters.
He started collecting coins as a boy, occasionally skipping school and taking the train to Philadelphia to troll the local coin dealers. Later he expanded into fractional U.S. currency and other collectibles, but his focus during adulthood was book collecting. Inspired by his love of the outdoors he compiled one of the foremost collections of first edition and signed works by John Muir, though his collection extended to other naturalists, explorers and early California novelists.
He is survived by his wife of 62 years Mary Lindsay, his children, Richard (and Susan) Lindsay, Mary (and Wayne) Ramsey, Tom (and Anne) Lindsay and Janet (and Steve) Weinberg as well as twelve grandchildren (Andrew, Maura, Katelin, Katharine, Kristin, Meg, Lindsay, Becca, Kenta, Anna, Lauren and Matthew) all of whom were proud to call him husband, father or “Grambo.”
At his request no service is planned but if so inspired donations may be made in his honor to Nature Conservancy, ( http://www.nature.org/), the Monterey Peninsula RotaCare clinic (http://www.rotacarebayarea.org/donate.html), The Salvation Army (www.salvationarmyusa.org ) or the charity of your choice.
