Dr. Frank John Tiffany, 65

Vietnam was a long way from Coronado. Dr. Frank Tiffany had that thought many times while serving as a Green Beret combat medic with the U.S. Special Forces. 

Dr. Tiffany served in the Army from 1967-70 before entering into a medical career that lasted more than 35 years. He died Dec. 20 at his Coronado home. He was 65.

A memorial service will take place from 2-4 p.m. Saturday at the , 1631 Strand Way. 

After high school, Frank volunteered to join the U.S. Army. He trained at Fort Benning, GA, the U.S. Army Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg, NC, and completed his Special Forces medical training at Fort Sam Houston, TX. 

As a medical corpsman in Vietnam, he served as a rifle and parachute-qualified sergeant in the Special Forces, receiving wounds from enemy fire while providing aid to fallen comrades.

He served with A-team at Dak Pek, and then performed a special mission for the Walter Reed Hospital Research program. Upon completing that assignment Frank volunteered for service with Mobile Strike Force IV (MIKE).

MIKE was a Special Forces unit that worked as individuals or in small teams within the indigenous Montagnard hill tribe people. The hill people were recruited by U.S. Special Forces to serve as front-line fighters alongside U.S. troops during the war.

One of his jobs was to befriend the indigenous Montagnard hill tribe people and seek their support in fighting the enemy.

Frank was honorably discharged in 1970 as a Sergeant. Dr. Tiffany received several awards and commendations, including the Bronze Star with Combat “V,” a Purple Heart, and an Army Combat Medical Badge – the latter awarded to medics who went about their business under enemy fire.

Born in Suzurandai, Japan, Feb. 17, 1946, Frank’s father, Frank Rupert, was an American POW held near Kobe, Japan. His mother, Yoshiko, was the youngest daughter of a British Parsee father and a Japanese mother.

After leaving Japan the family lived in Pennsylvania. Later, Yoshiko married a Navy pilot and the family moved west where Frank played football for Coronado High School. He graduated in 1964.

After high school Frank attended the College of San Mateo before transferring to the University of California, San Diego as a math major. 

In 1975, he graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine. He completed his internship in 1976 and his Residency in 1978, both at Los Angeles County General Hospital.

Dr. Tiffany later served as director of Adult Ambulatory Care and assistant chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Los Angeles County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance.

Frank met his wife Barbara while working in the emergency department at a Long Beach hospital. They married in 1985 and later that year moved to Wyoming where they found a rural area in need of a doctor.

“Frank was very excited the first time he was paid for his services in buffalo meat,” recalled Barbara.

Less than two years after the move, an accident left him with a fractured back and confined to a wheelchair. He was walking with assistance within six months.

It was during this time the couple moved to Reno, where Dr. Tiffany joined a successful medical group. Later he would practice in Las Vegas.

Frank returned home to Coronado in 1998 and had resided here since. At the time of his passing, Dr. Tiffany was director of Horizon Hospice of Poway, and worked in Dr. James McSweeney’s office in San Diego.

In 2000, Dr. Tiffany was listed in the National Registry of Who’s Who in Medicine and was selected Top Doctor in San Diego by the International Association of Internists in 2010.

“Rarely was there a night without patient calls,” said his wife. “Frank also took care of friends, neighbors and co-workers’ families.”

In addition to his wife, Dr. Tiffany is survived by his mother Yoshiko Tiffany, and a daughter, Adrienne Herro, of Northern California.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to the Wounded Warrior Project, 4899 Belfort Road, Ste. 300, Jacksonville, FL 32256.

This obituary was created by Joe Ditler and LivingObituary.com.