A noted Knoxville physician has died. Dale Alexander Teague M.D., 93, passed on October 1, 2022, of congestive heart failure. He had been retired for several years and lived on Cherokee Lake in Grainger County.
Dr. Teague was a founder of the Baptist Eye Institute in Knoxville. He was friends with the first doctor in America to perform a radial keratotomy (RK), a procedure done by hand and a forerunner of Lasik surgery.
He was personally taught by the Russian doctor that had discovered this procedure. Dr. Teague was the first to perform the RK procedure in Knoxville. During his career, he did the procedure for approximately 10,000 patients – including his wife, Pam, and his daughter, Kim.
Dale Teague graduated from Greeneville High School in 1947, from Tusculum College in 1951 and from UT Medical School in Memphis in 1954.
He joined the U. S. Air Force in 1955. After his medical internship, he went to Randolph AFB in San Antonia and became a flight surgeon. He was assigned to Carswell AFB in Fort Worth and flew on B-36 and B-52 bombers. He was in the 2nd Air Force commanded by his hero, General Curtis LeMay, and in charge of the high-altitude chamber. He monitored the EKGs for U-2 spy plane pilots as they trained at altitude of 100 kilometers. During his service, he traveled at twice the speed of sound in a Convair F-106. He was a major when discharged in 1958.
He then moved to Detroit to complete his residency in ophthalmology at Wayne State University and Kresge Eye Institute. He returned to Knoxville and opened a private practice in 1961. He was a faithful member of First Presbyterian Church Knoxville for over 32 years where he served as both a deacon and an elder.
A graveside service will be held at Shiloh Cemetery in Greeneville, Tennessee, today, 10/3/22, at 11 a.m. A celebration of life will be held in late October at First Presbyterian Church in Knoxville. The full obituary is here.