Dr. Pace to retire after more than 40 years

The impact that Dr. Robert C. Pace has had on the lives of thousands of people in the Fallbrook and southwest Riverside County area can't be measured with any tangible value associated with it.

But for those that have experienced the expertise and care that Dr. Pace provided firsthand, there's no doubting what his worth has been to the Fallbrook community.

This year, after more than 40 years as a practicing orthopedic surgeon out of his Fallbrook and Murrieta offices, Dr. Pace will retire his practice next week.

Starting in 1977, Dr. Pace was a fixture on the sidelines at Fallbrook High School football games. He was a big football fan, having played freshman football during his freshman year at the University of Utah.

And if you were a football player from the late '70s on, it was both a curse and blessing to be instructed by your coaches to "Go see Dr. Pace." On the one hand, you were likely pretty injured, but on the other hand, Dr. Pace was going to take very good care of you.

"He was a guy that touched so many kids lives throughout all the years that he's been with and worked with Fallbrook High School students and athletes," said Tom Pack, who worked with Dr. Pace while serving as the school's head football coach for more than 27 years. "I can't tell you how many kids he cared about and cared for over the years. What he has done for this school and this community - he went above and beyond for everyone."

Dr. Pace grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, and graduated from the University of Utah with an undergraduate degree in 1965 before moving on to medical school at The George Washington University through 1969.

He then served with the Navy assigned to the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton from 1971 to 1973. That's when he and wife Eileen got their first taste of life in Fallbrook.

He then returned to finish orthopedics at the University of Southern California.

"So, we were never going to come back to Fallbrook because it was too small," Dr. Pace said. "Then the four years we were in L.A., Fallbrook was growing. So, we came back and that's where we stayed."

According to Dr. Pace, there was a major malpractice crisis in Fallbrook at that point in time in town.

"Fallbrook (football team) was having trouble getting a doctor to cover them because the lawsuits were going every which way," Dr. Pace said. "Dr. Wayne Miller said, 'You know they're having trouble getting a doc down there and they can't start a home game without a physician there.'"

Dr. Pace offered to help, and the rest is history.

"I thought, this was really great," Dr. Pace said. "Sports medicine back then meant if you were a doctor and had an interest in sports, you were a sports medicine doctor. Since then, obviously, it's become a very respected specialty."

Working with the young athletes at Fallbrook High, he said, was never meant to improve his professional practice in town but admits that it likely did.

"I guess in retrospect, I got to meet a lot of people that I otherwise wouldn't have," Dr. Pace said. "The coaches and all those guys."

Dr. Pace's generosity and demeanor with his patients, young and old, endeared him to the community and his colleagues.

He served as the Chief of Surgery at Fallbrook Hospital from 2008 until the hospital's closing as well as Chief of Surgery at Rancho Springs Medical Center in Murrieta in 1998 and was the Chief of Staff of Fallbrook Hospital in 1984 and 2013.

He was affiliated with Fallbrook Hospital, Golden Triangle Surgicenter, Loma Linda Hospital, and Rancho Springs Hospital during his career.

He said he will miss the office most of all.

"A lot," Dr. Pace said. "The people in the operating room too, but the office. Most people when you see them in the office, they're being level with you, they tell you what they think, and I am going to miss that."

He won't miss the digital medical billing and things like that, but he will miss the people and the patients that he still runs into from time to time.

"It's a very grounding place, the office," Dr. Pace said. "You see patients that have been through some rough times and you've been through the rough times with them and you get very close. I realize that I am going to miss that very much."

Dr. Pace will continue to stay active in the community and this July he will begin his term as the president of Foundation for Senior Care.

The foundation's Care Van program is a by-donation service providing door to door transportation for seniors and the disabled to medical appointments, physical therapy, pharmacies, grocery stores and more.

He and Eileen raised their children, Erin, Meredith and Scott, in Fallbrook and each attended Fallbrook High School. These days and during his impending retirement, you will find them chasing around his grandchildren, watching ballgames and - knowing Dr. Pace - probably taking a look at a young athlete's bumps and bruises and offering them support.

That's just who he is.

Jeff Pack can be reached at [email protected].