RETURN TO THE MORGUE

A Tale From San Francisco

This tale is for those of you who have followed The Owl since my first blog in April of 2011.  Incidentally, thank you; I purposely provided only a "sketchy" profile, so that you might pay more attention to what I have to say than to me.  I'm sure at least some of you have figured out a lot about who I am by now.

When I arrived in the Bay Area in 1959, I was transferring from Lincoln University in Missouri to San Francisco State College to continue my studies in Physics.  After a harrowing drive across country (I had just turned 20; had never driven more than 60 miles at one time before...more about this in a later blog); I lived in Berkeley with my sister and her family for a few months.  But I had to find a job and a place to live so I could pay out of state tuition ($150 per semester; a LOT  of money then).

Because I learned to type at C.C. Hubbard, I passed a typing test (2nd try), and landed a job with room and board at the U.S. Marine Hospital "Estates" located at 15th & Lake in San Francisco.  To say my living quarters were elegant would be and understatement.  The grounds were adjacent to The Presidio and Fort Scott at the tip of the San Francisco Peninsula; snuggeled up against the Golden Gate Bridge.

I would fall asleep many nights to the fog horn; hike during the days, when I could, to Baker Beach to study in the sun.  The chefs at the hospital packed a lunch for me when I went to classes across Golden Gate Park every day.

I think the buildings on the elegant grounds were constructed during the Depression.  I lived in abandoned nurse's quarters.  There was a grand foyer with an opulent marble stair case ascending to the second floor.   More than 200 rooms on three floors; except for mine, ALL OF THEM were EMPTY!  Thick marble lined hallways and outfitted the bathrooms.   Periodically, another student would move in for a few weeks or a month.  The basement of my building was so huge, only half of it was used as a very swanky Officers Club for the Public Health Service Officers who ran the Hospital.

My job was to type medical records, dictated by doctors from all floors of the huge hospital, and to assist with the filing of the massive number of medical records.  I was paid $14 every two weeks.

While in San Francisco on my recent 50th anniversary trip, I visited my sister's grave in the El Cerrito hills.  She has a wonderful ""view" of the Golden Gate, Bay Bridge, and San Rafael Bridge.  Yesterday was the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate.

I also visited and was given a tour of the old U.S. Marine Hospital; which has been converted to a very elegant and very expensive apartment and town house complex.  I was told by the tour guide that the marble from my building was used in the conversion of the Hospital. 

I told my guide of a practical joke played on me by one of the visiting medical students.  They tricked me into "visiting Herman", who turned out to be a cadaver kept in the morgue; located at the time, next to the medical records facility in the basement.  The guide told me the morgue had become an expensive apartment, and asked if I wanted to re-visit the basement and show her where the medical records rooms were.

Stay Vigilant!
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