February 8, 1920 – January 8, 2019
Antoinette A. Gomes ’50 was born Feb. 8, 1920, in Hilo, Hawaii. In 2002, she moved into Brookdale Retirement Residence after fracturing her hip. In 2006, she moved to the Linda Valley Villa, happily residing with friends and classmates until her death on Jan. 8, 2019.
Dr. Gomes graduated from Pacific Union College (PUC) Preparatory School in 1937. She began taking secretarial courses at PUC in 1938 but had to return home to Alameda, California, when her father’s health began to fail. She enrolled in Armstrong College, earning an associate degree in secretarial science in 1940. She entered medical school after completing premedical studies at PUC at her brother’s encouragement.
Dr. Gomes interned at University of Pennsylvania Medical Center in 1950, followed by residencies at Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz (general practice), and San Joaquin General Hospital in Stockton, California (internal medicine).
In 1953, she was again called to care for her father. Following his death three months later, she worked at St. Helena Sanitarium. In 1954, she moved with her mother to Glendale, California, to work at Glendale Adventist Sanitarium, resuming her residency in internal medicine. In 1956, she joined the staff of Los Angeles County Hospital, where she later became head of the hospital’s department of internal medicine. She said she sometimes felt like a family physician in the mission field as she cared for patients and their families. After retiring in 1974 due to illness, she continued charity work, supporting a number of educational and health-related organizations, including clinics in Mexico.
