FORREST JOY PINKERTON

After postgraduate work in New York, Boston, New Orleans, and Vienna, he came to Hawaii during World War I (1917) on transport duty. He attended Officers' Training School at Schofield Barracks, and was on the staff of Tripler Hospital. Resigning from the service in 1919, Dr. Pinkerton opened an office in Honolulu in 1920 specializing in eye, ear, nose and throat.

On July 11, 1918, Dr. Pinkerton married Marion Chapin in Honolulu. Later they were divorced. Their children were: Marion Joy (Mrs. Grant Oliver), Robert C., James P. (missing in action in World War II), and David C. On September 14, 1945, Dr. Pinkerton married Florence Helmick Macaulay. His stepchildren were: Elizabeth (Mrs. Robert Mitchell, Jr.), Margaret (Mrs. Clyde Woods), and John Macaulay.

Dr. Pinkerton was on the staff of Queen's Hospital from 1920 until his retirement in 1964. He was a life member of the Queen's corporation and was a member of its Board of Directors for many years. He was chief of Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat service at Queen's for 26 years. He also served as chief of this service for leper patients at Kalaupapa and Kalihi from 1920-1950; and was chief of the EENT service at Leahi Hospital from 1923-1956. He served as consultant at Tripler Army Hospital for many years and in 1970 was named consultant emeritus to the Surgeon General's Department of the Army. As supervising ophthalmologist, he served both the Territorial and State Department of Health; and was on the attending staff of Kauikeolani Children's Hospital of which he was a director from 1923-1965.

Dr. Pinkerton was certified by the American Boards of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology; and became a member of the Broncho-Esophagologyical Association in 1937 and of the American Bronschoscopic Society in 1939.

Among the many contributions that Dr. Pinkerton made to the community was his co-organization in 1928 of the Pan-Pacific Surgical Association. Serving as its secretary-treasurer from 1928-1948, he became the president in 1948. He continued as a board member and was director-general from 1951-1963.

On December 7, 1941, immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Dr. Pinkerton was appointed director of blood banking operations under the Office of Civilian Defense. Prior to 1941 he had recommended to the Chamber of Commerce a community blood service, and subsequently served as president of the Blood Bank until the time of his death.

A member of the Oahu Health Council, he served as a director from 1937-1952 and as its chairman from 1946-1951. Dr. Pinkerton was also a director of Maunalani Hospital from 1944-1953; president of the Hawaii Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Society in 1946 and 1965; member of the Honolulu League for Hard of Hearing; organizing member of the Society of Medical Consultants for the Armed Forces in 1961; founding member of the World Medical Association. He was on the board of the National Society for the Prevention of Blindness; a member of the International Broncho-Esophagological Society; the International Society of Surgery. In 1962 he served as 3rd vice-president of the Eye Bank Association of America, and became 1st vice-president in 1963.

Dr. Pinkerton was a charter member of the Hawaii Medical Association, and a director from 1939-1949. He also belonged to the American Laryngological Association; the American Laryngology, Rhinology, and Otological Society; the Pacific Coast Oto-Ophthalmological Society; the International Eye Bank; the Medical Foundation for Eye Care; a fellow of the American College of Surgeons in 1929, he was chairman of the Hawaii Chapter from 1930-1964. As a member of the American Medical Association he was a delegate from Hawaii from 1935-1949.

Other organizations to which Dr. Pinkerton belonged were: American Triological society; Hawaii Chapter of the American Red Cross (director 1951-1956); life member of the American Medical Association of Vienna; Surgical Association of France; Territorial Board of Health. He was on the Advisory Board to the Mayor on Health and Hospital Affairs (chairman 1957-1960); on the Governor's Committee for Conservation of Sight; the Bureau of Sight Conservation; the National Committee of Mental Health (public health committee chairman 1937-1949). He belonged to the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology; the Honolulu County Medical Society (president 1923); the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmologists; the Aero-space Medical Association; and the 50 Year Club of American Medicine.

In addition to all this, Dr. Pinkerton found time to be an active Shriner. He was a member of Hawaiian Lodge No. 21 F & AM and a member of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, 33rd. degree. He was Potentate and chairman of the Shrine Athletic Committee 1937 to 1964 and was largely responsible for the development of the Aloha Bowl Shrine football game. He also belonged to the Aloha Court No. 1, royal Order of Jesters; the Honolulu Chapter No. 2, National Order of Caviri; the Clipper Club; Pan American Million Miler; and National Sojourners. He was a member of the Pacific Club, a life member of the Mid-pacific Country Club and a past member of the Bohemian Club.

Many honors were bestowed on this busy physician. Among the most outstanding were personal citations from Presidents Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Johnson and Nixon. In 1965 he received the coveted Order of the Splintered Paddle from the Honolulu Chamber of Commerce, the 21st person so honored. In 1970 the American Association of Blood Banks presented him with its distinguished service award; and in 1973 Dr. Pinkerton received the Native Born Citizen of the Year award, a citation from the Chamber of Commerce for public health education by radio. He was honored in 1962 by the Honolulu County Medical Society along with other senior physicians; by the Hawaii Medical Association in 1966; by the Hawaii Medical Service Association; Nobles of the Shrine; the Lane Bryant Foundation for volunteer service to the community; United Airlines; and the Consul of the Republic of Korea.

Dr. Pinkerton retired from private practice in 1964. Shortly after his retirement Hawaii doctors established the Forrest J. Pinkerton Research Fund to be used to encourage blood and tissue research in Hawaii in recognition of his long service to blood banking. At the age of 82, the Blood Bank Building was named The Forrest J. Pinkerton Building at a special ceremony at the Blood Bank.

"Pink", as he was known to his associates, was an outspoken man of many interests. Over the years he took part in many controversial issues. These included everything from veterans service disabilities during the Korean War to fluoridation, which he strongly opposed. Though he mellowed a bit in later years, wore an eye patch and was forced to use a wheel chair, Dr. Pinkerton never lost interest in the blood bank, nor in the community to which he contributed so much. He died on December 29, 1974, at the age of 82 at Arcadia Retirement Home in Honolulu.

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