Dr. Mary Rose Middleton Dahl, the first woman to practice ophthalmology in Utah, died Monday, Oct. 24, following a battle with Parkinson's disease. She was 69.
Dr. Dahl, the second of three children to Dr. Richard P. and Lucy Rose Middleton, graduated from East High School in 1954.
She studied chemistry at the University of Utah, where she was a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. She graduated from Cornell Medical College in New York City and married Dr. Douglas S. Dahl in the Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1961.
Dr. Dahl completed her residency in ophthalmology at the University of Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary, where she became a faculty member in 1967.
She and her husband returned to Salt Lake City in 1969, where she became the first Utah woman to practice ophthalmology, and the first Utah ophthalmologist to perform fluorescein angiography, which tests blood circulation in the retina. She also participated in a national study that validated laser treatments for diabetic-related retinal disease.
Dr. Dahl was a clinical professor of ophthalmology at the U. and part of Holy Cross Hospital's attending staff. She practiced in Sugar House for 27 years.
A viewing is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at Larkin Sunset Lawn Mortuary, 2350 E. 1300 South in Salt Lake City.
Services will be at noon Saturday at the Monument Park 15th Ward, 1320 S. Wasatch Drive, in Salt Lake City. A graveside service at the Salt Lake City Cemetery is planned, with a reception for family and friends to follow at the Town Club, 1081 E. South Temple.
Donations can be made to the Mary M. Dahl Memorial at the Moran Eye Center, 50 N. Medical Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84132.