In Loving Memory
Melvern Ellis Laidlaw, Jr., M. D.
On May 6, 2021, Dr. Laidlaw passed away peacefully at the age of 96 at Park Manor Rehabilitation
Center. He was a well known physician and a long time resident in Walla Walla.
Dr Laidlaw or “Mel”, as many respectfully referred to him as, lived a full and productive life.
He was born in College Place in 1924 and was raised on his father’s wheat farm in Dixie, Washington. He
attended Dixie High School and graduated from Walla Walla High School in 1943.
He served in World War II in the USNR SV V6 and was trained to be a Hospital Corpsman at the Naval
Training Station in Farragut, Idaho. Later he served on the U.S.S. Bollinger, APA 234, a troop transport in
the “Magic Carpet” operation in the South Pacific. He was discharged as a Pharmacist’s Mate 2nd Class
in 1946.
In 1950 he graduated from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington with a B A degree with a major
in Biology. Four years later he graduated from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore,
Maryland. He fulfilled his internship and medical residency at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle,
Washington and at the Portland VA Medical Center in Portland, Oregon. In 1958 with a group of other
physicians, he began his practice in Internal Medicine. Two years later, this evolved into the Catherine
Street Clinic. From 1958 to 1960 he also taught Microbiology and Parasitology at Whitman College. He
was also Director of Health at Whitman College for eleven years.
In 1973 internist Robert Caudill, cardiologist Ralph Rampton, and Dr Laidlaw headed up the WWV
Medical Society Committee and trained ten EMTs to be paramedics. He served as the Director of
Advanced Life Support in Walla Walla for ten years. This paramedic program brought early care to
patients and also saved lives of patients with heart attacks. Walla Walla was the third city in Washington
state to have a paramedic program.
After he retired from the CSC in 1978, he became Chief of the Outpatient Department at the Walla Walla
VA Medical Center. In 1994 he stepped down to do part-time disability workups. And in 2006 he retired
from practicing medicine.
He was also an active member at Christ Lutheran Church and served as a lay reader and also created
beautiful banners that were displayed in the church. During his spare time he enjoyed calligraphy, creative writing, stamp collecting, and genealogy.
He is preceded in death by his wife Carolyn Rose Laidlaw, his son David Laidlaw, his mother Elvira Ellen
Southard, his father Melvern Ellis Laidlaw, Sr., and an infant sister Bonnie Belle Laidlaw. He is survived by his two daughters Julie Laidlaw and Lisa Zigweid.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the following in his honor:
Christ Lutheran Church
1420 South 2nd Ave
Walla Walla, WA 99362
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
600 N. Wolfe St.
Nelson 134
Baltimore, MD 21287
Whitman College
345 Boyer Ave
Walla Walla, WA 99362
To share a memory or send a condolence gift, please visit the Official Obituary of Melvern Ellis Laidlaw, Jr., M.D. hosted by Mountain View Funeral Home.