Leslie L. Chisholm

Leslie Lee Chisholm, Jr., MD, age 86, of Tampa, Florida, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his family on Sunday, December 31, 2017, at 12:15 p.m. He was in born in Cairo, Illinois on February 6, 1931. He served in the Air Force in the Aerospace Engineering field. He received his medical degree from the University of Nebraska. He was board certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology; a Fellow with the American Academy of Ophthalmology, International College of Surgeons; and a Diplomat with the American Board of Ophthalmology. He was a member of the American Medical Association of Ophthalmologists and the Hillsborough County Medical Association. Dr. Chisholm was in private practice from 1964 until his retirement in 2001. He enjoyed social memberships with the St. Andrew’s Society of Tampa Bay, The Krewe of Venus and the Jaguar Club. He is preceded in death by his father, Leslie Lee Chisholm, Sr.; his mother, Lila Rene Cates; and his brother, George Chisholm. He is survived by his beloved wife, Phyllis S. Chisholm, and their three sons, Leslie Lee, III, and his wife Carla, Douglas Scott and Philip Kent, and five grandchildren, Leslie Lee, IV, William, Emerson, Ella and Avery. Memorial Services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on January 20, 2017 at Loyless Funeral Home. in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Alzheimer's Association at: https://m.alz.org/donate.asp For Dr. Chisholm…… For as long as time has memory, this little framed cartoon has sat on Dr. Chisholm’s bathroom counter ~ and nothing else you can say about the Doctor captures his essence better. I will share with you his remarkable life and journey and still keep coming back to that picture. He is an Illinois-born son to his father, Leslie Lee Chisholm, Sr., a gifted professor who loved teaching, and his mother, Lila Rene Cates. From this beginning, his mind had its seed. He met his soul mate for eternity, Phyllis, when they were in college together. She would be his best friend throughout their 64 years together allowing him the freedom to practice his genius unfettered while she managed the day-to-day grind. They were inseparable. He served in the Air Force in the Aerospace Engineering field. He became drawn to the field of ophthalmology and pioneered the Lasik of today. He loved making the difference that changed people’s lives. He lived a wonderful life with his family enjoying many road trips and going skiing with their three sons, Les, Doug and Philip. They enjoyed their clubs – The St. Andrew’s Society of Tampa Bay, the Jaguar Club and the Krewe of Venus. They lived the life they had imagined, traveling the world, their beloved home, The Nanda Devi, and their cars. Those were the things he enjoyed, but they never owned him. To know the Doctor deeply was to know he was happiest taking care of his home and garden and tinkering in his garage. For all his brilliance and earthly trappings, he was always a simple man to his core. Even as Alzheimer’s slowly ate away his magnificent mind, it could never capture nor destroy his kindness. Even as his nurses were taking care of him, and even though he no longer knew what the word meant, a “thank you” would arise from the hidden place of truth that was still within him. He was naturally funny, and even deep into the darkness, could make you laugh with his word plays or puns. He forgot almost everything as the disease progressed, but for him the love for his wife remained as fresh and true as the day they met. He never knew arrogance nor mean spiritedness and had, in many ways, despite his intelligence, a child-like innocence that allowed him to enjoy his grandchildren; Lee, William, Emerson, Ella and Avery. In the end, when the world sometimes so cruelly destroys all that we build, it could never touch the sweetness of the man who could “whistle in hell”… and that is why we love, honor and admire him. Words of comfort may be expressed for Leslie’s family by clicking “Share a Memory.”