Jose J. Alonso came to Chicago from Cuba for his medical internship in the mid- 1950s and never left, running a pediatric practice on Chicago’s West Side for 40 years.
Dr. Alonso, 82, died Saturday, April 19, at Elmhurst Extended Care in Elmhurst, said his former wife, Dolores. A longtime Elmhurst resident, Dr. Alonso had been ill for several years with a variety of ailments, she said.
After completing a residency at Cook County Hospital, Dr. Alonso served in the Air force for three years and settled in Elmhurst. He had a hard time getting hired by an established practice because many doctors thought a Cuban-born physician would have trouble attracting patients, said his son Philip.
So Dr. Alonso struck out on his own, first operating in an office connected to a drugstore at Taylor Street and Oakley Avenue. In the early 1960s, he moved to a medical building at Madison Street and Pulaski Road.
He remained there until the West Side riots that followed the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. From then until his 1998 retirement, he worked out of an office at 810 N. Wood St. He had more than 5,000 families in his patient files, his son said.
Dr. Alonso was born in Rodas, Cuba, the son of a Spanish father who came to Cuba with almost nothing but built a successful business operation that included a sugar mill and real estate, his son said.
Dr. Alonso studied at the University of Havana Medical School. He later completed his residency at Cook County Hospital, where he met his wife-to-be, a pediatric nurse.
Hard-working and frugal, he worked shifts for other residents and saved enough money to buy a car in 1952, his son said.
After he went into a practice with Dr. Meyer Perlstein, a draft for doctors was instituted, and Dr. Alonso, although not a U.S. citizen until 1988, entered the Air Force, his son said. Dr. Alonso was stationed in Bitburg, Germany, for three years, his son said.
As a young medical student and physician, Dr. Alonso’s English was not perfect. He made a list of 25 words to learn every day, a practice he continued for years in developing an expansive vocabulary.
Known as “Pepe” to his friends, Dr. Alonso was an avid opera fan, for years holding season tickets to the Lyric Opera.
Dr. Alonso divorced in 1970 but remained close with his ex-wife.
In addition to his son Philip, Dr. Alonso is survived by two other sons, Paul and Peter; two daughters, Marilu Alonso and Deborah Dybalski; three brothers, Fernando, Bernardo and Justo; and eight grandchildren.
Services have been held.
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ttjensen@tribune.com
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