Fishers Island Obituaries
The Gazette, Roanoke County, Virginia
June 1997 Vol. 11, No. 2
Hoch, Ralph K, Dr., a retired Navy surgeon and the only practicing physician on Fishers Island for nay years, died April 12 at Mariner Healthcare at Pendleton, in Mystic, Conn. He was 95. Dr. Hoch, who lived on Hedge Street, retired from the Navy in 1960 and moved to Fishers Island where he began a family practice. He was also medical director of Sinclair Pharmacal, makers of Boroleum. Know for his friendly and caring manner, Dr. Hoch had all the qualities of a traditional country doctor. He often tried to retire, his family said, but he continued to provide medical care to the Island residents because there was no permanent medical facility here. Dr. Hoch, who was a ear, nose and throat specialist, had a distinguished medical career in the Navy. In the decade before he came to Fishers Island, he was chief of eye, are and throat service at the Naval Hospital at St. Albans, NY; executive officer at a naval hospital in Memphis, Tenn.; and commander of the Naval Dispensary in Washington, D.C. While in the military, Dr. Hoch served aboard a number of ships, including three destroyers. He was executive officer of a Navy field hospital in the Pacific theater during the World War II and also served during the Korean Conflict. In the 1930's, Dr. Hoch participated in a project to help refugees leave Spain during the Spanish Civil War. With a lifelong interest in sports, Dr. Hoch was captain of baseball teams at two colleges and played professional baseball in the old Eastern league. Born Nov. 19, 1901 in Woodside, Del., Dr. Hoch was the son of Charles I and Emma Keller Hoch. He attended Woodside schools and Wesley Collegiate Institute, the University of Delaware for pre-med studies and Temple Medical School in Philadelphia, from which he graduated in 1928. Dr. Hoch was a resident at Temple Hospital and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He married Ethel Alice Small Aug. 30, 1930 in fAll River, Mass. She died January 24, 1990. Dr. Hoch is survived by two sons, Richard J Hoch of Fishers Island and David L Hoch of Coventry, RI; three daughters, Barbara E Hoch of New London, Carol Ann Peffley of Groton, and Susanne Hoch Glovackie of Greenfield, Mass.; and six grandchildren. Funeral and burial with full military honors where on Fishers Island. Gifts in Dr. Hoch's memory may be made to Sea Stretcher, c/o Fishers Island Fire Department, Fishers Island, NY 06790 or to Union Chapel.
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