Joseph Markey M.D.

Joseph William Markey, M.D. died peacefully in his sleep at home on April 22, 2022 with his wife by his side.   He was born on August 7, 1929 to John Francis Markey and Eva Pauline (Gall) Markey in Eaton, Ohio.  Joe graduated from Eaton High School where he was Valedictorian and graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a Bachelor of Science degree with high honors in Chemistry and Zoology. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.   He went to the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine graduating in 1955.

Joe loved outdoor activities, particularly canoeing and bird watching, and his early years and later college summers were spent pursuing those activities as well as photography, watercolor painting, hiking and camping.

In 1955 Joe went to the Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital in Hanover, New Hampshire for a rotating internship.  During his time there he met Margaret (Maggi) Buckley over a pot of spaghetti sauce she was cooking after one of her roommates invited him and his roommate to dinner.  After making sure that Maggi enjoyed hiking, canoeing and camping as much as he did, they became engaged.

In the fall of 1956 Joe entered the U.S. Navy as a Lieutenant (MC) and was assigned to a LST squadron on it’s way to Japan.  Several months in Japan gave a Joe a taste for Japanese cuisine that lasted for the rest of his life.  When the squadron returned to San Diego, Joe headed east to  marry Maggi on March 2, 1957 in Old Town, Maine.  After flying back to San Diego for a skiing honeymoon at Mammoth Mountain, their plans were upset when their reservations were cancelled at the last minute because a big ski racing event was moved to Mammoth when no other ski area in California had snow.  How many honeymooners would consider Death Valley as a suitable site to start married life?

After several months in San Diego Joe was reassigned to the U.S.Naval Training Base in Great Lakes, Illinois and after a year living in Waukegan, the couple returned to Hanover, New Hampshire where Joe started a 3-year residency in Internal Medicine in 1958.  In 1961 along with their children, Rebecca and Sean, the  Markeys  moved to Boulder, Colorado where Joe joined the Boulder Medical Center.

After taking up skiing the Markeys continued hiking, camping and canoeing in Colorado and Canada.  They added sailing after Joe purchased a Flying Junior and then expanded their sailing to the Bahamas, Maine, Australia, North Carolina and Canada.

Joe became interested in Neurology and in 1967 spent a year in Boston as a National Institutes of Health Fellow in Neurology at Boston University School of Medicine.  When the family returned to Colorado, Joe completed a two-year residency in Neurology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and resumed his practice at the Boulder Medical Center.  He was board certified in Neurology in 1974.

When Maggi became politically active and was elected Boulder County’s first woman Commissioner in 1974,  Joe happily supported her campaign.  But by 1981 both were ready for a change and Joe accepted an appointment at the Charlotte Rehabilitation Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina while Maggi went back to college.  However, their children had chosen to remain in Boulder and in 1985, Joe and Maggi returned to Colorado and Joe began practicing at Boulder Memorial Hospital (later the Mapleton Center for Rehabilitation).   In 1990 after Maggi completed law school the couple returned to Charlotte and Joe started a practice in Headache and Pain Management while Maggi practiced law.  Joe was board certified in Pain Medicine in 1995.

In 2005 with both children in Colorado, Joe and Maggi returned to Colorado but Joe did not retire yet.  Sean had become a neurosurgeon and recognized that his father had the medical skills necessary for intraoperative monitoring of surgical procedures.  Joe enjoyed following surgical procedures at his home office and continued to work until finally retiring in 2016.

In addition to the previously mentioned positions, Joe was a Clinical Instructor in Medicine at the University of Colorado (CU) from 1963 to 1970; a Clinical Instructor in Neurology at CU from 1973 to 1978; a Clinical Instructor in Pediatrics from 1978 to 1981 at CU and  Assistant Professor of Neurology at CU from 1978 to 1981 and from 1983 to 1990.  He was also a Consultant in Neurology for the Colorado Handicapped Children’s Program from 1975 to 1981 and from 1983 to 1989.  He served on medical advisory committees for the Community Health Association of Charlotte, the Multiple Sclerosis Society and Colorado Head Injury Foundation.  He was a Medical Surveyor for the Commission on Rehabilitation Facilities from 1988 to 2015.

Joe was President of the Boulder County Medical Society from 1969 to 1970 as well as serving on the Executive Committee.  He was active with the Colorado Medical Society and was Vice-Chairman of the Judicial Council from 1976 to 1981.  He was also a member of the North Carolina Medical Society and the Mecklenburg County Medical Society.

Joe’s parents predeceased him and he was also predeceased by his aunt, Ellen (Gall) Kopleman, who grew up with him.  He is survived by his wife of 65 years, his daughter, Rebecca Markey and her partner, Thomas Ahrendt; and his son, Sean Markey, M.D. and his partner, Sabrina Reed; as well as  granddaughters MacKenzie (Austin) Enterline, Adrienne Markey and Allison Markey.  He had three great-grandchildren, Aspen, Olive and Arlo Enterline.  Joe was a good husband, a good father, a good friend, a good physician and a great cook.  His family and friends will miss him dearly.

A funeral mass will be held on June 11, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. at Pax Christi Catholic Church in

Highlands Ranch, Colorado.  A reception in the church hall will be held following the service.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Joe’s memory can be made to Doctors Without Borders, the University of Cincinnati Medical School or the University of Colorado.