Dr. Lynn Feaster Jr. dies, was trendsetter

Dr. Lynn Feaster Jr., a retired internist who belonged to a noted family of physicians, has died at age 75.

Dr. Feaster, who retired in 1991 after practicing here for 37 years, died Wednesday (Feb. 23, 2000) at Bayfront Medical Center. The cause was cancer complications, his family said Thursday.

He died in the same hospital in which he was born. His birth, in 1924 at what was then called Mound Park Hospital, was by Caesarean section, the first such pro-cedure in St. Petersburg.

The attending physician was his uncle, Dr. Orion O. Feaster, known to the rest of the family as "Uncle Doc." A third-generation Floridian from Micanopy who came to St. Petersburg in 1919, he inspired his nephew to pursue medicine.

Burnes Lynn Feaster Jr., whose parents were divorced when he was 13, spent a lot of time with his cousins at the home of his uncle, who became the area's first full-time radiologist, on Ninth Avenue and Oak Street NE.

Many young doctors lived with the O.O. Feasters until they found homes of their own. Among them were W.G. Post and S.B. Bieker.

Like his uncle and his uncle's second wife, Dr. Annette M. Feaster, a pediatrician and radiologist and the first woman to preside over the Pinellas County Medical Society, Dr. Feaster was a trendsetter. At Vanderbilt University, he took one of the first fellowships in nuclear medicine and was the first doctor in Florida to use radioisotopes for medical treatment, his family said. The Atomic Energy Commission licensed him to dispense radioisotopes from a private office.

Dr. Feaster did his premedical work at St. Petersburg Junior College and the University of Tennessee. He received a medical degree from the University of Tennessee at Memphis. He served in the Navy in the Korean War.

"His career was the embodiment of medical service _ from house calls to modern medical care," his family said in a statement.

He was a member of Allendale United Methodist Church and its board of trustees. He was a founding member of the St. Petersburg Sertoma Club, a civic organization.

Survivors include his wife of 52 years, Evelyn; three sons, Dr. Lynn III, Dr. Fred and David, all of St. Petersburg; and eight grandchildren.

Friends may call at 10 a.m. Saturday at Allendale United Methodist Church, 3803 Haines Road N, where a memorial service will be at 11 a.m. The family suggests memorial contributions to the church. Anderson-McQueen Funeral Homes & Cremation Tribute Center-Ninth Street Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

_ Information from Times files was used in this obituary.