Coworkers remember Kingston doctor’s compassion, care and sense of humor

KINGSTON — A Kingston community doctor was killed in a six-vehicle collision on the Hood Canal Bridge on Thursday, May 17.

Dr. Debra S. Clyde, 65, of Port Ludlow was pronounced dead at the scene after her vehicle was hit head-on, officials with Washington State Patrol said.

Joann Estribor, Lauren Menard, Megan Bailey and Lindsay Jones all worked with Clyde at the Kingston branch of Peninsula Community Health Services. During a May 23 interview, the women remembered their colleague for her humor, compassion and the unrivaled quality of care she provided to her patients.

Jones, a healthcare specialist, said it wasn’t until her passing that she and her coworkers became truly aware of the extensive care Clyde had been providing her patients.

“Over the last couple of days, we’ve had many patients come in and although we knew how great she was, we didn’t know how much she was going above and beyond for her patients, even when she wasn’t working,” Jones said.

Jones explained how one of Clyde’s patients — who was working to stay sober — knew something was wrong when she didn’t call him over the weekend.

“She had been calling him regularly to support him and encourage him to stay clean,” Jones said.

Clyde’s co-workers remembered her humor and fondness of making others laugh. When asked to explain the doctor’s sense of humor, the group of women simply burst into laughter among themselves, seemingly speaking volumes.

“She always had stories about everything, which was always entertaining. She definitely lived a very fun life with a lot of very interesting stories,” said Bailey, a medical assistant at the clinic. “It has been very difficult this week [and] to even come to the office is not fun … it’s hard to keep focused on our work.”

Jones also recalled Clyde’s impeccable retention of obscure medical knowledge.

“We had a patient that was concerned that she had leprosy and she said, ‘Was she playing with armadillos?’” Initially, Jones had thought Clyde was joking, but to her surprise, she went on to explain the actual link between armadillos and certain cases of leprosy.

“She was insanely smart, like ‘hurt-your-brain’ smart,” Menard said. “She would just get on a tangent and provide me with so much information that I felt like my head was going to explode … She was brilliant and her amazing gift of comforting and caring about her patients will be really missed.”

Estribor said it was Clyde who spoke up for the other workers at the clinic.

“She was the momma bear. She protected us and stood up for us,” she said.

For Clyde’s colleagues and patients at the Kingston clinic, the hole left by her untimely departure seems nearly impossible to fill.

“Her patients are just as devastated as we are. I don’t think that they’ll ever be able to find a doctor quite as understanding as she is,” Bailey said. “Quite honestly, I don’t think our office will ever be the same without her.”

“We’ve lost the heart of our office,” Menard added.

— Nick Twietmeyer is a reporter with Kitsap News Group. Nick can be reached at ntwietmeyer@soundpublishing.com.