Harold James Jersild

Moline, Illinois
Dr. Harold J. Jersild, of Moline, Illinois, the founder of Moline Orthopedics Associates and a well-known surgeon in the area, died on Friday, June 8, 2007, in Guttenberg, Iowa. He was 80 years old.
Services will be at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 13, at Trinity Lutheran Church, Moline. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery, Rock Island. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, June 12, at Trimble Funeral and Cremation Center, Moline. Memorial gifts can be made to Arrowhead Ranch, Coal Valley, and Trinity Lutheran Church, Moline, or any favorite charity.
Dr. Jersild was born September 22, 1926, in Viborg, South Dakota, to the Rev. Hans and Carrie (Sinnemark) Jersild, the second of four children. He was raised in Nebraska and Los Angeles, and attended Dana College, the University of Chicago, and Northwestern University Medical School. He founded Moline Orthopedics in 1960. He was active in state and Midwestern orthopedic societies, and is remembered by colleagues and patients as a man who inspired confidence and affection.
He met his wife Robin Hirschi, of Rockville, Utah, when he was working as a ranger at Zion National Park in the summers before medical school. After residencies in Kentucky, the couple made their home in Rock Island and Moline, where they raised their five children, until the death of Robin, after twenty-two years of marriage. In 1976, he married Dolores Carlson Strombeck. Having both experienced the deaths of their spouses, the couple treasured and nurtured their love for each other and became a model of resilience and loyalty for their combined families. Following his retirement, Dr. and Mrs. Jersild spent their winters in Naples, Florida.
He decided to become a doctor at age 11, when a missionary at his church described being taken captive by Chinese bandits and performing surgery by shaping a spoon into a scalpel. With bad grades and 28 demerits, however, he almost didn?t graduate from high school. But the principal relented?perhaps because Hal was also a left tackle for the undefeated L.A. High football team. A few years later, while serving in the Navy in Hawaii at the end of World War II, he memorized an organic chemistry book and began to turn his considerable powers of concentration towards academics. Hal received high honors through college and medical school.
He had a lifelong passion for aviation. As a little boy he spent his first dollar on a ten-minute ride in a Piper Cub, and in retirement he built an airplane from a kit. He had a daredevil spirit, sometimes to his family?s consternation.
He will be remembered for his curiosity, his dependable, cheerful nature, and the pleasure he took in simple things: vacationing with his family at their cottage in Guttenberg, Iowa; fishing in Montana and Canada; reading and listening to music; cooking his famous breakfasts and the Danish specialties of his childhood. He will also be remembered for the loving eye he cast over his large family.
Survivors include his wife, Dee Jersild, of Moline; his seven children and stepchildren: North Jersild and wife Myrna, of Ardmore, PA, and their sons Elliot and Oliver Jersild; Carri Keller, of Moline, and her daughter Lael Bagnall and her husband and three children; Devon Jersild and husband Jay Parini, of Weybridge, VT, and their sons Will, Oliver, and Leo Parini; Ethan Jersild and wife Coreen of Prospect Heights, IL, and their children Elise Jersild, and Kevin and Emily Siwick; Seth Jersild and wife Karen of St. Joseph, IL, and their children Eleanor and Victor Jersild; John Strombeck of Moline; and Thomas Strombeck and wife Kathleen of Mendota Heights, MN, and their children William and Elizabeth Strombeck. Also surviving are his brother Paul Jersild and his sisters Marion Lott and Joann Spiegel. He was preceded in death by his parents and his first wife Robin Jersild.
Hal?s family invites friends to share a story about him or light a candle in his memory at www.TrimbleFuneralHomes.com.