#23 - Thaeler, A. David Jr.

Faith Jones, Archives Team

Born in Bethlehem PA, Rev. Arthur David Thaeler, Jr. M.D. (1902 – 1990) graduated from Moravian Collage and Theological Seminary.  He was a seventh- generation Moravian minister and missionary.  He later earned his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. After completing an internship in general medicine, he spent a two-year residency in Honolulu to specialize in tropical diseases. During his academic years, he proved himself to be a determined, goal-oriented individual. He received numerous awards for his scholarship, was concertmaster in first-chair violinist in the school orchestra, and was also the leader of the Glee Club.  

Likely due in large part to his family and Moravian heritage, David was a man who regarded education, pastoral care, and practical service as inseparable.  Since his senior year of college, his goal had been to serve as a medical missionary in Nicaragua, where the Moravian church had established missions in 1849. Church authorities were well aware of this.  Upon completing his education, he presented his plan to build a clinic in Nicaragua, only to be told there were no funds available. He asked, and was given permission to raise money himself. After securing the necessary funds to begin and conferring with church authorities, a site was chosen.  The first medical center was to be established in Bilwaskarma, a small Indigenous village on the Wanks River along Nicaragua’s east coast near the Honduran border, north of Bluefields, where Moravian missions already existed. 

In February 1934, Dr. Thaeler arrived in Bilwaskarma with $625 earmarked for a clinic building, water tank, and fence. That was only the beginning.  Over the next 30 years, with funds he raised, his own labor, local assistance,, and contributions from U.S. congregations, Dr. Thaeler developed a substantial medical facility. The campus eventually included a 35-bed hospital, a 20-bed tuberculosis hospital, a clinic laboratory building, two nurses’ residence, his residence, a powerhouse, a machine shop, and other supporting buildings. A power plant, capable of operating either by water from the Wanks River or by diesel motors, supplied electricity for the entire hospital compound.  A second hospital was later built at Puerto Cabezas. In addition to his medical work, Dr. Thaeler reached thousands with the gospel, ministering to both their physical and spiritual needs.  He not only established the region’s first hospital but also opened its first nurse training program. 

Under his leadership, the hospital played a vital role in controlling malaria and tuberculosis, and in reducing infant mortality throughout the region. By the time the Thaelers retired in 1964, the facilities had examined more than 100,000 patients and performed over 1,000 operations.

For his outstanding contributions to the people of Nicaragua, Dr. Thaeler received the the nation’s highest civilian award. In 1950, he received the Moravian Comenius Award in recognition of his contributions to medical missionary fields.

Dr. & Mrs. Thaeler retired from the mission field in 1964. In December of that year, he became the Memorial Home Community’s Resident Physician. They learned about our community from Dr. Anna Korteling who worked with them briefly in 1959 to fill a gap until an additional physician could complete his training. The Kortelings moved here in 1961.

The Thaelers became active community members. He was a popular Symposium Club speaker. His first such presentation was described  by Mrs. Herbert Myers in the November 4, 1965 edition of the Clay Co. Crescent as follow s:“Dr. Thaeler read a paper on “Radio Communications, Television, and Radio Amateurs”. Drawings and diagrams that were helpful in assisting the audience to understand some of the most technical references. The lecturer is himself a ‘radio ham’ and he revealed an astonishing knowledge of the intricacies of radio transmission.. The reason why Dr. Thaeler is an expert in his knowledge of radio tubes, grids, amplifiers, and wave lengths as he is in his knowledge of the insides of his patients, is that during the many years of his medical missionary service in Central America, he had to be his own mechanic when any of his sets got “sick”. There were no mechanics within 300 miles who could help him.”

Warfare between the contras and Sandinista government of Nicaragua during the 1980s caused much destruction in Nicaragua, and Bilwaskarma was not spared. The Thaeler Hospital and other facilities were destroyed. In 1995, a new clinic was built on the site of the Thaeler Hospital. It serves about 10,000 people in ten communities, and is staffed by local Nicaraguan professionals.

Rev. A. David Thaeler, Jr. M.D. was truly a remarkable man.

November 1925

Nineteen new residents, representing ten families, were welcomed into our community during November 1925.  Among this group were three single women, all widows.  The residents decided they should organize an Association for the “Interest and Welfare of All.”  They called it “The Penmor Place Association.”  The name was chosen to honor the people who had done so much for the residents, J.C. Penney and Rev. Dr. & Mrs. D. Walter Morton.