Obituaries

Charles R. Mock Navy Officer, Doctor

Charles R. Mock, 71, a retired Navy captain who served as a military doctor and later worked as a medical administrator, died Oct. 19 of metastatic bladder cancer at his home in Bowie.

Dr. Mock spent more than 20 years in the Navy before retiring in 1984 as commanding officer of the Naval Health Sciences Education and Training Command in Bethesda.

Among other specialties, he was a flight surgeon and treated Navy divers. In 1968, when he was a medical officer aboard the aircraft carrier USS Essex, he treated the astronauts of Apollo 7 when they were retrieved from their space capsule after landing in the Atlantic.

From 1969 to 1972, Dr. Mock was senior medical officer at the Naval Air Facility in Washington. He later had a residency in pediatrics at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda and developed a specialty in treating children with hearing and language disabilities. He was a co-founder of Children Handicapped in Language Development, an organization that provided support services for children and parents.

Charles Robert Mock was born in Huntington, W.Va., and graduated from Northwestern High School in Hyattsville. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Maryland and became a Navy doctor after graduating from U-Md.'s medical school in 1963.

After his military retirement, Dr. Mock became a physician with the Johns Hopkins Health System and later served as an administrator, helping establish medical clinics throughout Maryland. He was also an assistant professor of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins in the early 1990s.

In 1995, Dr. Mock started a business, Medical Consulting Services, and helped medical practices hire personnel. He had a major role in establishing several medical clinics, including Nighttime Pediatrics in Annapolis, where he was medical director. The chain of clinics, now called Nighttime Medical Care, has seven locations in suburban Maryland.

Dr. Mock continued to see patients and perform administrative duties until retiring two years ago.

In addition to his medical career, Dr. Mock was an accomplished musician who supported himself in college by playing piano in nightclubs and organ in churches. He remained a church organist throughout his life and was the assistant organist and assistant choir director at St. Matthew's United Methodist Church in Bowie, where he was a member. He participated in many recitals and was a member of the American Guild of Organists, serving as an officer and newsletter editor of the D.C. chapter.

He was also a Boy Scout scoutmaster and participated in long-distance bicycle rides and running events for many years. In 1972, he was named Bowie's Outstanding Young Man of the Year. His other interests included surf fishing, shooting and boating. He was vice commodore of the Chesapeake Mainship Group, an organization for boat owners.

Survivors include his wife of 49 years, Bette Coder Mock of Bowie; three children, Steven Mock and Katherine Mock, both of Bowie, and Douglas Mock of Ellicott City; and a granddaughter.

-- Matt Schudel