KING CITY — George Washington University (GWU) honored three generations of the Andrus Family on Aug. 26 for their contributions to domestic and global health by naming a conference room on its Washington, D.C., campus in their name, The Andrus Family Conference Room for Equity in Global Health.
Dr. Lenard Milo Andrus, the first generation with ties to GWU, graduated from University’s Medical School in the late 1920s after serving in France during World War I with his twin brother, Les Andrus.
Doc Andrus, as his patients referred to him, settled in King City in 1931 after interning at the Oakland County Hospital, becoming the second doctor to set up practice here. He had a life-long career of providing vitally needed health care services to the residents of King City and the surrounding area of southern Monterey County.
Dr. Len Hughes Andrus, the second-generation first-born son of L.M. and Leora Andrus and a graduate and class president of King City High School, as well as alumni of Stanford University, completed the medical school curriculum of GWU in three years to serve in World War II to fill the gap in physician shortages.
Hughes was assigned as the ship’s doctor of a Naval Coast Guard ice breaker in the North Atlantic, searching for German U-boats. After the war, he returned to King City to practice medicine with his father and spearheaded the community fundraising effort with support of his father and other community leaders, like Julius Trescony and Harry Casey. Their efforts led to the building of the George L. Mee Memorial Hospital in King City.
Later, Hughes went on to have an illustrious career in academia at the University California Davis School of Medicine. He was UC Davis’ founding director and professor of Family Practice, establishing a network of Family Practice Residency Programs throughout rural northern California, which still exist today, and an expanded Family Nurse Practitioner Program, becoming the largest in the country.
Dr. Jon Kim Andrus, the third-generation son of Hughes and Kathleen Andrus and graduate of King City High School as salutatorian, student body president and avid basketball player of the class of 1971, as well as alumni of Stanford University, went on to teach at GWU’s Department of Global Health beginning in 2017.
In May 2024, he was awarded the Excellence in Masters Teaching at the university. Prior to joining GWU, Jon had a distinguished, long-standing career in global health, working on polio, measles and rubella eradication around the world, as well as the introduction of new, life-saving vaccines into national immunization programs of developing countries, such as those against influenza, cervical cancer, pneumonia and diarrhea.
He started his global career as a physician Peace Corps volunteer in the mid-1980s in Malawi, Africa, where he directed the Mchinji District Hospital, serving more than 200,000 rural residents as the only doctor. Later in his career, Jon went on to serve as Deputy Director of the Pan American Health Organization.
George Washington University crafted a bronze plaque honoring the family’s legacy to be hung outside the conference room in perpetuity. A few of Jon’s colleagues and his wife Susan attended the ceremony.
Unfortunately, L.M. passed in 1986 and Hughes in 2010. At the 50th anniversary of the George L. Mee Memorial Hospital, Hughes was honored for his contribution.
