CARIBOU – Dr. Elizabeth Scott Quayle, 66, passed away peacefully Oct. 26, 2011, at Cary Medical Center. She had worked there as a neurologist for more than 30 years, and fittingly, she was cared for there by her colleagues and family through her final weeks battling cancer. Born in Cheadle, Cheshire, England, Elizabeth was the first of four children that Ernest and Irene Quayle would have.
After a family move to Canada, Elizabeth graduated from McGill University, Montreal, and University of Toronto to become a doctor. She practiced in Montreal and Vancouver before leaving Canada for the USA. She worked for several years at Chicago’s Veterans Affairs hospital before moving south to do research in Birmingham, Ala. In 1981 Elizabeth took up a post in Caribou, where she remained working until her final illness. When looking at job opportunities, she immediately felt the friendliness and teamwork at Cary Medical Center and she enjoyed working there and serving the local community in Caribou and Fort Kent in her chosen field of neurology. Doctors from Cary Medical Center to Eastern Maine Medical Center, from Birmingham, Ala., to St. Petersburg, Fla., have commented on her work and used words like good clinical judgment, clear evaluations, caring response towards patients, responsive and helpful in caring for difficult patients, strong integrity professionally and personally, pleasant, cooperative, intelligent, good rapport with everyone, recommended without reservation or hesitation, loved for her guidance and wisdom. Her patients also loved her. One patient commented that when she met Dr. Quayle for the first time it seemed that she had finally found a doctor who would listen to her and believe her. The patient was so impressed with the care Dr. Quayle gave to reviewing her medical chart, her knowledge of medications, her frankness and her willingness to tell the truth about her condition. She changed this patient’s life and the patient is devastated with her loss. In one of her final and crucial accomplishments at Cary Medical Center Dr. Quayle helped to establish a stroke management protocol for the hospital. She served on a committee for nearly a year and dedicated herself to get all of the processes and policies right. Today this stroke protocol is in place and being utilized for the benefit of patients who suffer from unexpected and tragic stroke. It has already saved lives and will continue to do so. During the many years she worked at Cary, Dr. Quayle was often seen late at night, spending time in the Intensive Care and Emergency departments helping to save lives. Her brilliance was evident when you simply spoke with her and when it came to a crisis, a severe trauma or stroke, a life and death situation, she gave you a sense of control and that she was on top of things. She created a sense of confidence for her colleagues, her peers, her patients and families. Her practice of medicine absorbed her, it was her lifeblood. Though never married, Elizabeth showed unsurpassed love for her family. She regularly visited her parents, who had retired and moved back to Britain, and after their deaths she continued to pay annual visits to her sisters and their families in England. She remembered every nephew and niece’s birthday with a specially chosen gift and she spent many enjoyable Christmas times with family, playing card games and watching their sporting endeavors.
She is survived by her brother, John and his wife, Marg, and their daughter, Marcy and her children, in Canada; and in England by her sister, Heather and her husband, Allan, and their children, Katie, Christopher and Holly; and her sister, Janet and her husband, Colin, and children, Georgie, Robbie and Vicky.
She will be deeply missed by all of them.
A memorial service will be held 1:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14, in the Chan Center at Cary Medical Center. A reception will be held after services at the hospital. After cremation her ashes will be taken to the Quayle family grave in the Isle of Man with a family service at the graveside. Arrangements are in care of Lancaster Morgan Funeral Home, 11 Clover St., Caribou. Memories and condolences may be expressed to the family at
www.lancastermorgan.com.