Charley and Elizabeth (Betty) Gutch

Charley F. Gutch was born on February 17, 1920, to Charles and Ruth Gutch of Albia, Iowa. He attended high school and junior college in Albia before transferring to the University of Iowa in 1939. Gutch obtained a Bachelor’s Degree (BA) from the University of Iowa in 1941 and a Doctor of Medicine Degree (MD) from the University of Iowa in 1943.

Elizabeth R. Riggs was born in December 1919 to Robert and Florence Riggs of Pierre, South Dakota. She graduated from high school in Pierre in 1937 and went onto obtain a Bachelor’s Degree in Business from the University of Iowa.

Charley Gutch and Elizabeth (Riggs) Gutch were married in Pierre, South Dakota, during Charley’s final year of medical school. In December 1943, Dr. and Mrs. Gutch moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for Dr. Gutch’s medical internship at Columbia Hospital. Following completion of the internship program, Dr. Gutch served fifteen months in the United States Navy during World War II as a part of the Sino-American Cooperative Organization (SACO) and Naval Group China.

After returning to the civilian life, Dr. Gutch served at St. Mary’s Hospital in Pierre, South Dakota; he then completed residencies in Iowa City, Iowa, for anesthesiology (1947) and Lincoln, Nebraska, for internal medicine (1949-1951). Dr. Gutch served as the Chief of the Dialysis Unit at the Veteran’s Affairs (VA) Hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska, through 1967. During this time, he also was an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Creighton University School of Medicine.

From 1967 to 1970, Dr. Gutch served as the Medical Director of the Chronic Dialysis Center at the University of Colorado Medical Center. Dr. Gutch then served as the Medical Director of the Hemodialysis Training Center at the University of Utah from late 1970 to 1972. It was during his time in Utah that Dr. Gutch, together with his colleague Martha Stoner, published the first edition of the book Review of Hemodialysis for Nurses and Dialysis Personnel.

Dr. Gutch then served as the Chief of Dialysis Programs at the University of Arizona Hospital from late 1972 to 1976. Finally, Dr. Gutch accepted a professorship at the University of South Dakota School of Medicine. He retired in 1988 and was named Professor Emeritus by the South Dakota Board of Regents. Dr. Gutch passed away in 2009.