RONALD E."R.E." LUNDY, II, PA-C
1944 - 2004

Ronald Earl "R.E." Lundy II was always concerned about the welfare of others, either through his church or his work as a physician assistant. He was the second physician assistant certified in Florida without a college degree, said son Fred Lundy of Baton Rouge, La.

A fifth-generation Lake County resident, R.E. Lundy studied and worked under the late Dr. Fred Andrews of Mount Dora for 11 years. He started training in 1971 and was certified in 1976. Lundy's wife of 35 years, Naomi, recalled when he was studying for his license.

She said he would work all day, come home about 5:30 p.m. for dinner and time with the family, then go back to work for several more hours. "Though at times difficult, he would spend the time it took to be the professional he wanted to be, while also being the husband and father he desired to be," she said.

Lundy was 60 when he died Nov. 12 of a heart attack.

For the last 22 years of his life, he worked at Lakeview Terrace Retirement Community in Altoona -- first as a physician assistant and eventually as the nursing-home administrator. He was the director of health-care services. Barbara Weatherman, who worked alongside Lundy for nearly 15 years, said he was "so good with all these residents. They would come to him with every kind of little problem that they could think of." He would talk with the residents about concerns they had with medications they were taking, said Weatherman, assistant director of health-care services.

When the hurricanes were threatening Central Florida, he made sure the buildings were secure and went door-to-door to make sure the residents were OK. "The personal attention that he gave to the residents is really going to be a loss," Weatherman said. "There just wasn't any job that was too big or too menial for him."

When he wasn't at work, he could be found volunteering for many organizations, including Hospice of Lake and Sumter Counties, where he served on the board of directors, and the Florida Academy of Physician Assistants.

For more than 25 years, he was active at the Bay Street Baptist Church in Eustis. The Rev. Mark Douglas said he had known Lundy for six of those years. He said Lundy served as a deacon, taught adult Sunday school and was chairman of a planning group that studied the possible relocation of the church. Douglas said Lundy "worked very hard to devise a plan where we could sell off portions of the land, so we could enter into our property debt-free. "He was a man of great faith," he said. "When others would doubt, he was always in the forefront. "He would say, `I know this is going to happen.' "

Douglas said Lundy offered to help other church members and at times visited members in the hospital. His generosity reached to outsiders as well. Douglas said that one night, several members were working late at the church when a stranger knocked on the door. The man had come to town for a job that didn't work out. He wanted to go back home but didn't have enough money. Douglas said Lundy was the first to say, "Let's give him a bus ticket and food for the road to get him back home."

"R.E. was a person who always wanted to help others," Douglas said. Lundy also is survived by son Earl Lundy III of DeLeon Springs and sisters Gail Norris of Eustis, Marcia Haliday of Leesburg and Lee Lundy of Eustis.

Arrangements were by Harden-Pauli Funeral Home and Crematory.

The above article was taken from the Orlando Sentinel, Lake County Edition, Sunday, November 21, 2004.

R.E. Lundy was a Charter Member of the Florida Academy and served on the Board of Directors from 1981-1991, and as Treasurer from 1981 - 1989. He will be greatly missed by his many friends in the Academy.

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