Robert Settlage, M.D. '63, M.P.H. '69

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Robert Settlage, M.D. '63, M.P.H. '69, passed away on April 18. He was 87.

Robert "Rob" Hurd Settlage was born to Arnold Fredrick Ernest Settlage and Katharine Hurd Settlage on August 30, 1938, in Akron, Ohio. Settlage knew from a young age he would become a doctor as he was to be the fifth generation of doctors in the Settlage family. He was the oldest of five siblings, and the only one born in Ohio. During WW II, his father went overseas with the U.S. Army and he lived with his mother and younger brother Randy in Massachusetts.

In 1945, his father returned from the war and moved the family to California. They lived briefly in Downey before Arnold set up a private practice in the Crenshaw/Baldwin Hills neighborhood.

Settlage loved hiking in the Baldwin Hills in the area that is now Hahn Regional Park. The family would often go camping and this instilled a love of the outdoors that he carried through his entire life. He went on to be an Eagle Scout and an avid member of the Sierra Club.

At Dorsey High School, Settlage was an All-League linebacker and Center for the football team, earning a letter. He attended Stanford University before moving on to UCLA Medical School. He completed his internship at Los Angeles County General Hospital and then a four-year residency in OB/GYN (following in his father's footsteps) at UCLA before graduating in 1968. After earning his master's in public health, he spent two years in the Air Force stationed at Travis Air Force Base, where he obtained the rank of major.

While in medical school he met his first wife, Diane, and became a father to his first daughter, Rachel, before he and Diane divorced in 1975.

Intrigued by public medicine, Settlage went to work for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services at L.A. County/USC Medical Center in 1971. His duties included oversight of the entire OB/GYN department, where he saw patients and delivered thousands (if not tens of thousands) of babies during his tenure, assisting some of the highest risk pregnancies in Los Angeles.

During this time, Settlage also taught at the USC Medical School as an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology for community medicine and public health, associate professor of clinical obstetrics and family medicine, and, finally, professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology and clinical family medicine. In addition to his direct impact on infant and maternal health in the greater Los Angeles area, he also oversaw countless medical residents and interns during his tenure.

In 1975, Settlage met Sue Friedhof while both were participating as Greek folk dancers. This love for Greece and especially Greek dancing was transformational in both of their lives, bringing them close friendships and amazing travel experiences over the years.

The couple married quickly and briefly lived in West Los Angeles before they moved to Whittier, California, which remained their home for the rest of their lives. Together they had two daughters, Chrysanthi and Amanda.

Settlage remained an employee of Los Angeles County Department of Health Services for 41 years. During this time he served as director of Maternity and Infant Care Project in East Los Angeles, medical director for the Robert Wood Johnson Perinatal Regionalization Project at LAC/USC Medical Center, director of Drug Abuse and HIV Infection Clinic, medical director of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, and Medical Director of Family Planning Programs among many highlights.

Settlage was preceded in death by his parents, his wife of 49 years, Sue (Friedhof) Settlage, and his youngest brother, Arnold Settlage. He is survived by daughters Rachel Gonzalez Settlage (husband Paul, and son Alex), Chrysanthi Leon (husband Miles, children Margaret and Robert), Amanda Settlage (daughter Trinity), and his siblings, Randy Settlage, Katharine Settlage, Dorothy Settlage, Mabeth Settlage, and all of their respective families.

Services will be held at 1 p.m. on Sunday, July 26, at St. Marks Lutheran Church, 2323 Las Lomitas Drive, Hacienda Heights, CA, 91745.

Read a full obituary here.