Otis P. Morganthaler

World War I

Otis Morganthaler was born on October 13, 1890, in Sioux City, IA to Phillip and Margaret (known as Maggie) (Reifers) Morganthaler. He spent his early years in Nebraska and enrolled in Creighton University in Omaha. He excelled in the classroom as well as on the football field at Creighton. He graduated from the School of Medicine in 1915 and interned at St. Joseph Hospital in Omaha. In 1916, Dr. Morganthaler opened his practice as a physician and surgeon in Templeton.

The United States entered World War l in April, 1917, and, as there were other doctors in Templeton at that time, Dr. Morganthaler offered his services to the US Army. He was inducted on August 9, 1917, as a 1st Lieutenant. He was sent to Fort Riley, KS for initial training and, during his time there, was promoted to Captain. By April 15, 1918, he had been assigned to Evacuation Hospital #40 at Camp Greenleaf, GA. Camp Greenleaf was a medical officer training camp created on the grounds of the Chickamauga National Battlefield as a part of Fort Oglethorpe. The evacuation hospitals were designed to operate near the battlefield to reduce the time between injury and care. Several of these units were deployed to Europe but the quantity and severity of injuries resulted in these hospitals not being as near to the battlefield as originally intended.

Evacuation Hospital #40 never left Camp Greenleaf but did serve injured men returning from Europe. By October 6, 1918, Dr. Morganthaler was assigned to Evacuation Hospital #41 also at Camp Greenleaf. After the Armistice was declared on November 11, 1918, new casualties began to subside and the evacuation hospitals began to shut down. He was transferred to Sanitary Train #1 on November 23, 1918. This unit served as a conduit to move medical personnel between units. He then went through Camp Stuart at Newport News, VA and was assigned to General Hospital #43 in Hampton, VA. He served there until his discharge from the US Army on June 3, 1919, with the rank of Major.

Dr. Morganthaler returned to Templeton and resumed his practice. He was Templeton’s doctor until his retirement in 1947. He was also Mayor of Templeton for 14 years. On January 22, 1948, he married Mary Portsline who had been serving as the Carroll County Health Nurse. They moved to New Port Richey, FL where he died on December 7, 1975 at age 85. He was buried in Meadowland Memorial Gardens in New Port Richey, FL.