Doctor recalled as a down to earth with big heart

Jul. 17—Friends remember Dr. James D. Mickle Jr. as a "gold ol' country doctor with big-city knowledge," a smart but down-to-earth man with a passion for medicine that carried him across the continent and, eventually, to Santa Fe.

Mickle, 73, died June 8 of acute respiratory failure at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center. He had operated a specialized medical practice in the city, Cholesterol Studies and Treatment, for a decade.

"He really would help anybody at any time," said Mickle's wife, Cynthia Baughman.

The clinic, which opened in 2011, closed in spring 2021, she said, as her husband was dealing with the effects of normal pressure hydrocephalus, a neurodegenerative disorder that can impair thinking and reasoning skills and walking.

"He really just never wanted to stop practicing medicine, but we did have to close the office," she said.

Mickle grew up in Pennsylvania and spent much of his adult life there. He graduated from Muhlenberg College and the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine.

He was a storied high school and college basketball player and later coached his daughter Beth's basketball team, his wife said.

He also served as a ringside doctor for the World Wide Wrestling Alliance in Philadelphia.

A student activist in college, Mickle supported abortion rights and later was an advocate for Medicare For All. He marched in Washington, D.C., against the U.S. invasion of Iraq, his wife said.

When planes crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001, Mickle was in Manhattan for a cardiology conference and immediately left to assist at a triage station at Chelsea Piers.

"He really had values he believed in as a doctor, wanting health and happiness and a good life for everybody. He would do everything he could to make that happen," Baughman said.

Baughman, a former editor of El Palacio, an arts, history and culture magazine of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, said she married Mickle in 2000. The pair met while she was a film professor in Ithaca, N.Y.

Mickle's love for medicine took him in the 1990s to Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, where he learned about the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids for some patients dealing with high cholesterol levels. He also joined with a nutrition company there that formulated a special fish oil supplement.

"He had sort of an interesting niche in the world, in terms of doing specialty work in cholesterol," said Dr. Caroline Kingston of Alma Family Medicine Center in Santa Fe.

Kingston said Mickle often helped patients struggling with high cholesterol determine whether they should take cholesterol-lowering statin medications or seek an alternative route to keep their health in check.

Mickle's friend Pasqual Nurod, who became a patient, said Mickle made patients feel comfortable.

Another friend, retired physician Pierr Johnson, said Mickle often would sport overalls in his medical office and dole out high-fives.

"He had a big heart, gave big high-fives and often wore a big cowboy hat," Johnson wrote in a text message Monday.

Mickle's decision to specialize in lipidology was a rare choice that benefited people with genetic abnormalities who had high cholesterol even with excellent overall health, Johnson said, adding other doctors in Santa Fe often referred patients to Mickle for specialized care.

Baughman said Mickle was fascinated by archaelogy, which is part of what drew the couple to Santa Fe. His other pastimes included fly-fishing and roasting his own coffee.

Both of Mickle's children, Beth and Jim Mickle, have careers in the film industry. James Mickle's wife described him as an excellent father who enjoyed visiting his kids at their film and television sets.

"He was a wonderful loving husband and a wonderful loving father," she said.

Along with his wife and his children, Mickle is survived by his ex-wife, Carole Bianco, the mother of his children.

His family intends to spread his ashes across the Gulf of

St. Lawrence near a home he had built on Cape Breton Island, Baughman said.