FALMOUTH — Robert Norwood Coale, 93, died April 11 after a brief stay at Falmouth-by-the-Sea.  

Born in Baltimore, Md., Aug. 31, 1917, the son of Rev. S. Carroll Coale and Ann Brocker Coale, he grew up in Washington, D.C., and graduated from Dickinson College in 1939.

Later on after he graduated with honors from George Washington University School of Medicine, he  entered the U.S. Army as a medical officer, and served in Germany during World War II.  

He was awarded the Bronze Star medal with clusters, the Combat Medal badge and the Army Commendation Ribbon for his service in the Army. In June 1946 he was discharged from active duty with the rank of Major and remained in the U.S. Army Reserves.

In 1948 he entered private practice in Bethesda, Md., and served as a clinical instructor of medicine at George Washington Medical School and Hospital, and was on the medical staff of the Central Intelligence Agency.

During the Korean War he was recalled to active duty with the U.S. Army and was assigned to Walter Reed Army Hospital. After his discharge he returned to private practice at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Md., where he practiced from July 1953 to February 1972.  

He had many interests, including American antiques, and sailing, but above all his family was most important to him. He, his wife Mary, and their three sons spent many happy summers at the family cottage on Thompson Lake in Oxford.  

In 1972, they moved permanently to Winthrop, and he joined the medical staff at the VA Hospital in Togas,  serving as chief of gastroenterology. 

After he retired in 1980, he and his wife moved to Brunswick,  and later on relocated to Yarmouth. 

His wife of 55 years, Mary Horn Coale, predeceased him in 1997. 

Surviving are his three sons and their wives,  Robert and Louise (Skillin) Coale of Yarmouth, William and Sharon (Smithey) Coale of Potomac, Md., and John and Jill (Beaupre) Coale of Cumberland; his grandchildren, Rebecca Coale and Nathaniel Teti of Alexandria, Va., Johanna Coale and Ryan Coyle of West Chester, Penn., Elizabeth Coale and Adam Rosen of New Canaan, Conn.,  William Coale and Raquel Coale of Rockville, Md.,  Brooke Coale and John Krapf of Kennett Square, Penn., Brittany Coale of Stamford, Conn., and Megan Elizabeth Coale of Cumberland; six great-grandchildren, Matthew and Andrew Teti, W. Jacob Coyle, Ellen and Charles Rosen and Kaitlyn Coale.

A private spring burial service is planned. 

Please visit lindquistfuneralhome.com to view a video collage of his life and to share condolences, memories and tributes with his family.

Memorial donations may be made to Tuttle Road United Methodist Church, 52 Tuttle Road, Cumberland, ME 04021 or to Meals on Wheels, Southern Agency on Aging, 136 U.S. Route 1, Scarborough, ME 04074.

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