Doctor Kate, angel on snowshoes: The story of Kate Pelham Newcomb, M.D
by Adele Comandini
Category: History

Doctor Kate, Angel on Snowshoes, which was first published in 1956, tells the inspiring story of a woman doctor whose faith and selfless devotion to her community saved hundreds of lives and built a church and a hospital—a woman who won the respect and love of all who knew her. Kate Pelham Newcomb (1885-1956), or “Dr. Kate” as she was known to her community, was a physician in northern Wisconsin. She practiced medicine in and around Boulder Junction and Woodruff, Wisconsin, in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. In 1954 she gained national recognition from television producer Ralph Edwards and the NBC program This Is Your Life for inspiring the “Million Penny Parade”, to raise funds for a new hospital. The week the episode aired, some 274 pounds of mail arrived in Woodruff, containing more than 1.3 million pennies. The 19-bed Lakeland Memorial Hospital, with Dr. Kate serving as chief of staff, opened in March 1954. Adele Comandini’s biography of Dr. Kate became a New York Times bestseller.