Dr. Sidney Rouse Sewell

Dr. Sidney Rouse Sewell, aged 87, passed away peacefully on August 16, 2022. He was born on November 2, 1934 in Jonesville, Virginia to David Cottrell Sewell Jr. and Vesta Ely Sewell. He was the youngest of 7 children. At the time of his death, he resided at Penney Retirement Community in Penney Farms, FL. He graduated from Virginia Tech in June 1956 with a BS in Biology and then continued on to Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, graduating in June 1960 with a Doctor of Medicine degree. While in Richmond, he met the love of his life, Carolyn Withrow. They married on June 6, 1960. Sid entered the US Navy in June 1960. He served as a Naval Flight Surgeon with tours at Pensacola Naval Air Station, Naval Air Station Key West (during the Cuban Missile Crisis) and Naval Air Station Naples, Italy. Released from active duty in 1966, Sid fulfilled the terms of the Virginia Rural Medical Scholarship that he accepted for college in which he practiced as a board-certified family physician in the rural coal mining community of Wise, Virginia. He co-founded the Dickenson-Wise Medical Group and served as Chief of Staff of Wise Hospital. Sid served as the President of the Wise County Medical Society and President of the Highlands Chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Sid also helped establish the First State Bank of Wise and served on the bank’s Board of Directors and as Chairman of the Board. After 12 years, Sid returned to the US Navy as a Flight Surgeon, serving with the world-famous Pelicans of VP-45. He also served as Executive Officer, Naval Hospital, Jacksonville (FL), Executive Officer, Naval Hospital Orlando (FL), and had two tours in Washington, DC, one at the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery and the other with the Naval Inspector General. Sid was then assigned back to NAS Jacksonville as Senior Medical Officer and Head of the NAS Jacksonville Branch Medical Clinic. He retired from the Navy in December of 1996 as a Captain. Sid then went on to become the Medical Director (Medicare) for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida in Jacksonville, FL. Sid finally retired for good in 2006. After retirement he had a chance to follow his long-time interests in nature by becoming both a Florida Master Naturalist and a Florida Master Gardener. As a Master Gardener, Sid worked with troubled youth at Bannerman School. Sid enjoyed cooking. Throughout his working years, he often cooked big breakfasts on weekends for the family. He was famous for his Turkey Hash and his country ham with biscuits and gravy. And who could forget his extended experiment with putting the southern superfood, grits in everything. This led to creations such as Moo Goo Gai Grit and culminated with “gritsicles”, which were just as disgusting as they sound. At that point, and at his family’s urging his experimentation with grits came to an end. After retirement Sid took over most of the cooking, with Carolyn’s blessing. He had a few missteps along the way such as when he scraped out the entire insides of a spaghetti squash before cooking just the outer rind, but he learned quickly and became an excellent all-around cook. He enjoyed finding new recipes and trying them out. For many years, Sid created elaborate holiday dinners that the whole family enjoyed immensely. Sid and Carolyn were longtime residents of Eagle Bay Drive in Orange Park, FL. The family home of nearly 40 years was sold in July 2021. At that time, Sid moved permanently to Penney Retirement Community. Sid was preceded in death by his father and mother; beloved daughter, Elizabeth; and his six siblings, Marietta Varner, Geraldine Southern, David Cottrell (DC) Sewell II, Winston Sewell, George Sewell and Vivian McCall. Sid is survived by his beloved wife of 62 years, Carolyn Sewell of Penney Retirement Community; son, Houston A. Sewell with his wife, Debra of Niceville, FL; son, Evan W. Sewell of Jacksonville, FL; and granddaughter, Helen A. Sewell of College Station, TX. A celebration of life will be held at a later date.