For 43 years Dr. Marshall Eidex shared a practice with his brother, Dr. Maxwell Eidex, in the Decatur area. There, he and his twin, both internists, earned the trust and gratitude of countless patients.
Dr. Stuart Tuck, a podiatrist in Tucker, said for more than 20 years he received referrals from both Eidex brothers, and their patients invariably remarked on the brothers’ thoroughness and caring ways.
“They succeeded in keeping a family-oriented practice in a managed-care environment,” Tuck said.
“Marshall was a doctor who took the time to listen to his patients, a rarity in this era of hurry-hurry medicine,” said Dr. Barry Rosenbaum of Atlanta, a longtime colleague and friend. “He was low-key, humble and always accessible to his patients.”
Reneé Underwood, Rosenbaum’s wife, added that Marshall Eidex was one of the few doctors she knew who routinely called his patients to tell them personally about their laboratory results.
“Marshall was a soft-spoken guardian of his patients’ well-being,” said Dr. John Kennedy, a surgeon at DeKalb Medical Center. “He really knew them well, which enabled him to focus on exactly what they needed.”
While Marshall Eidex was good at diagnosing illnesses, he didn’t hesitate to tell patients not to fret about less-than-perfect lab tests.
“Dad would say it’s probably nothing,” said his son, Barry Eidex of Atlanta, adding that his father had a reassuring manner and a distinctive voice — soft, soothing and Southern.
Marshall Finley Eidex, 76, died of kidney failure Tuesday at his Atlanta home. His graveside service was held Thursday at Crest Lawn Memorial Park. Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care was in charge of arrangements.
The brothers Eidex were always close, Marshall having been born seven minutes after Maxwell. They went together to Baylor Military Academy and the University of Chattanooga and received their medical degrees from Emory University.
Marshall Eidex had a few idiosyncrasies.
“Dad never flew in a plane during his lifetime,” said Barry Eidex. “He didn’t care to travel, not even to medical conferences.”
However, he won trophies year after year for perfect attendance at medical conferences sponsored by DeKalb Medical Center.
“Dad ate the same breakfast every day for years — peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, oatmeal and a cup of decaffeinated tea,” his son said. Also, he exercised faithfully three times a week on a stationary bicycle or a treadmill for most of his adult life.
Eidex took up painting in mid-life. He painted in oils, completing a dozen or so portraits of family members and also did still-lifes and landscapes. He enjoyed woodcarving, too, creating a menagerie of animals for display around his house.
Barry Rosenbaum noted that Passover was Eidex’s favorite holiday.
“Marshall had us over for a Passover meal each year,” Rosenbaum said. “He would explain various holiday traditions so as to make it more enjoyable, and even made charts for his presentation. It was just like him to wait until the first night of Passover this year before he left us.”
Eidex was a regular attendee of Congregation Beth Jacob, a former member of its board, and a supporter of Atlanta Scholars Kollel, a Jewish education and outreach group.
His first wife, Katherine Singer Eidex, died in 1981. Surviving in addition to his son Barry and his brother Maxwell are his wife for the past 32 years, Jeanie Yaeger Eidex; two other sons, Jay Eidex of Suwanee and Brian Eidex of Stockbridge; a stepson, Keith Yaeger of Atlanta; a stepdaughter, Debbie Maguire of Sugar Hill; and 15 grandchildren.
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