SNOQUALMIE – When Ralph Eddings was growing up in Tacoma, he and his cousin Doug Eddings made a pact.

They had asked each other what the other was going to be when they grew up and Doug said he was going to be a famous writer. Ralph, needing to counter the presumptuous statement, said he was going to be a doctor.

Doug Eddings has since written several popular science-fiction trinities and Ralph Eddings has taken care of generations of Valley residents.

After 45 years of practicing medicine, the last 42 of which were in the Valley, Eddings will have his last day of work at the end of this month.

“That [being a doctor] is the only thing I ever wanted to be,” Eddings said. “I love my practice.”

Although he played with the ideas of being a pilot or farmer in his youth as well, Eddings made a straight shot to medical school. He, along with his cousin, was the first generation of Eddings to go to college, in spite of being born during the Great Depression. After going through the pre-med program at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Eddings attended the University of Washington Medical School. He graduated in 1956 and went to work as a resident for the King County Hospital, and then on to surgery at the Seattle Veteran’s Hospital.

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