Dr. Richard DeRemee shares memories of an almost-forgotten Red Wing
Jun. 20—ROCHESTER — Retired Mayo Clinic pulmonologist Dr. Richard DeRemee was in his early 20s when he started writing "In My Father's House," a short story based in Red Wing. Seventy years later, when he was 90, he returned to the narrative and finished it.
"I dabbled in it, off and on. But I never did anything with it until recently," DeRemee said.
DeRemee has written textbooks and more than 200 peer-reviewed articles during a prestigious 34-year medical career at Mayo Clinic. But in terms of sheer enjoyment and fulfillment, DeRemee found
writing works of fiction
and poetry more liberating than medical treatises. And the compulsion continues.
Though DeRemee speaks of "not being long for this world," the desire
to create, to imagine worlds and characters,
some of whom are rooted in childhood memories of his upbringing in Red Wing, hasn't dimmed.
DeRemee is a 100% Swede; his short story is filled with darker hues. Yet, none of that darkness figures into DeRemee's memories of the town of his birth and upbringing in the 30s and 40s, though there were moments of hard knocks, too.
What do you remember about your upbringing in Red Wing?
It was a very interesting place to grow up in, because it still had a lot of immigrants from Sweden, Norway and Germany. The town was so down to earth. I used to be a singer and got my start at age five, because my grandfather took me down to his frequent watering hole, the Barrel House in Red Wing. He set me on the bar. And I sang, "You are my Sunshine," and I got a candy bar for it.
Is it a different place than it was then?
I think so. But I haven't been back for any particular length of time since I left. At the time, I was growing up, it was a pretty coarse culture, shall we say. There weren't too many rich people in town, and it was kind of a lower middle class scene all around. It was remarkable at the time, because the people who were well-off, the doctors and so forth, had their houses mixed in with everybody else. I can remember my uncle saying about (one well-to-do person), "He makes a lot of money." He admired him, not envied him. They respected the upper class, so to speak, while being satisfied with their middle class existence.
So the rich and well-to-do did not live in walled-off compounds?
I valued the kind of upbringing that I had. My father was just a railroad guy, had no money. But we lived next to an inventor of Sturdiwheat cereal. And my father played tennis with him regularly. And I accompanied them. And that was the interesting thing about Red Wing. It was just a mix of all levels of society.
Why did you choose a medical career?
The culture of that time was so different from what it is today. But I think it was my mother who ultimately influenced my medically-directed career path. She was a cook and worked at the St. James Hotel and worked for 30 years at that hotel. She always talked about how nice the doctors were that came to eat there and so forth. She always idolized the physicians, and I guess I picked up on that.
How did your ancestors end up in Red Wing?
My grandmother emigrated from Sweden at age 15, by herself. You can imagine a boat trip in those days. She had a brother who emigrated before her. And he was a carpenter from Red Wing. She sponsored him and she got to Red Wing by train and lived with him for a while. She married my grandfather, but I think it was an arranged marriage of sorts. They were trying to find their way into the culture and married the person who had already arrived.
I also understand that you were a pretty good baseball player. Was there ever a chance of being drafted?
It's interesting that you said that, because I was pretty darn good. We were playing a game in the Twin Cities. And I was advised that there were Giants scouts that were interested in me. My father was a tremendous athlete, and he was a really good center fielder. And when I told him I was getting some feelers from baseball scouts, he said, "Don't do it. You don't have the stuff to be a major leaguer." I was really taken aback by that. He said, "You'll spend your life traveling in dirty buses." I was leaning toward medical school. He said, "Pursue that. Don't go into professional sports."
That was pretty harsh.
I can recall it vividly. I expected him to say like many fathers would, "Gee, that's wonderful." But he had it right.
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