It wasn’t love at first sight for Drs. Lee and Dave McGarey. It wasn’t love at second sight or even third, but they finally got there – although it took a while.
“We knew each other in high school, but started dating in college,” said Dave.
Both Arizona natives, he was the Arcadia High School’s student body president and she was on the student council. He was trying to conduct a meeting and she was talking to a friend and not paying attention, so he told her to be quiet – not in a nice way.
“I talk a lot,” Lee said.
“It’s been that way since high school,” said Dave, with a laugh.
The couple married 27 years ago, while in medical school. Eventually, they moved to Flagstaff about 15 years ago to establish their practices and raise their three children.
She is a pediatrician and he an ophthalmologist.
After high school, they both went to college at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
“We were both pre-med and we had a lot of classes together,” he said. “We were seeing other people,” she explained. “We started dating in our junior year.”
Said Dave: “We were not ready to be serious before that.”
The girls in Lee’s sorority told her to look carefully at the two men she was considering. One rolled around on rollerblades wearing a t-shirt with a little man on the pocket, the other drove a BMW and wore a shirt with the alligator symbol. Lee chose the rollerblader Dave, of course.
“He was a fun guy,” she said. “My parents loved him the first time he met them.”
Lee said she realized she was in love with Dave when she walked into a large lecture hall for a class. She said she was deciding where she would sit when she saw Dave.
“I said, ‘I think I’ll go sit by Dave.’”
It’s been that way since.
“I think it was animal magnetism,” he said. “I was tired of dating and wanted to be in a meaningful relationship. She was the person I wanted to be with.”
As pre-meds, they had to study a lot and were able to encourage each other to do well. Then medical school came along. Dave left the area to study in Ohio. Lee stayed.
“You kind of go where you can get in,” he said. “It was hard, but we managed to get through it. It was not fun to be apart.”
Dave came back to Arizona for his residency program at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix and Lee was able to do her residency at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. He originally chose family practice as his speciality and she focused on pediatrics.
They had their first child, Hannah, now 22.
After working a few years in their chosen fields, they decided to work overseas.
“It was a dream we had for a while and it was something I wanted to do,” he said.
They worked in Saipan and each had jobs at the hospital there where the conditions were quite primitive. They learned a lot and had a memorable experience.
“We both love to dive and it was perfect. The weather was pleasant and it was a small island with a lot of beach. We were able to travel through Asia and the Pacific,” he said.
They welcomed their second daughter, Jessica, now 19.
All the while, Dave had his eye on ophthalmology, but never pursued it until one day he asked himself why he just didn’t do it. He applied to and was accepted to a program in Norfolk, Va. While Dave completed his studies, Lee was an assistant professor at King’s Daughters’ Medical Center, a teaching hospital. During that time, their son, David, was born in 1996.
After the third child, the couple decided it was time to put down some roots, build a home and raise a family. They chose Flagstaff.
“We both have family in Phoenix and we both like to ski and there was an opportunity for me,” she said.
Lee literally walked into a doctor’s office that just happened to be looking for a pediatrician. She got the job at Mountain View Pediatrics in 1997. Dave went out on his own. A few years ago, he partnered with Barnet Dulaney Perkins Eye Center and he says it has been a good move. It allows him to spend his time being a doctor rather than taking care of all the facets of a practice. He built a new office about 18 months ago and says, “It’s been going like gangbusters.”
More than 15 years have passed since they moved to Flagstaff and they are about to become empty-nesters, which is bittersweet for them. But, they will continue to rely on each other.
“We like the outdoors. We have been skiing together since we started dating. There are a lot of hiking trails and we like the beach and the negative ions there,” she said.
They still volunteer from time to time in third world countries.
“We are good at taking care of our time together,” Lee said. “We work hard and play hard.”
“He’s kind of a dreamer,” Lee said. “He makes it happen. He says, ‘Let’s do this.’ Then I say, ‘I’m so glad we did it.’”
“That is what she saw in me in college,” he said. “She was able to see past the exterior.” FBN