After 36 years of service, pharmacist Dave O’Brien filled out his last prescriptions for Cordovans on Dec. 9. From the glass window behind his elevated office at the back of the Cordova Drug Store, Dave has been a fixture that we all sooner or later sought out for what ailed us.
As with many other locals, Dave’s arrival in Alaska is a tale in itself. Back in 1981, Dave was working in a small pharmacy in Buffalo City, Wisconsin, when the phone rang and it was his brother Bill (O.B) O’Brien calling from Cordova.
O.B., who was in the plumbing and heating trade, had been chatting with Lenny Pingatore at the Moose Club. Pingatore owned and operated Cordova Drug at that time, and was looking for a pharmacist to work in the summer so he could take time off for seining.
But O.B.’s sales pitch didn’t center on pills; rather, it focused on hunting, a passion he and his brother had developed in their younger days along the nearby Mississippi River. Anyone who wore a pair of duck hunting hip boots back at that time remembers the famous LaCrosse brand, and guess what city was right nearby their home town.
“I still remember how excited O.B. was,” Dave said. “He said the hunting was the same as it was down there, except all the game was bigger.”
Dave tossed his hunting gear in his Bronco and headed North to Alaska. He worked until Christmas that first year; and then came back for good the following summer.
Dave is also an avid fisherman, and it was that sport that led him to his eventual wife Nancy. He had traveled up to Fairbanks to visit friends and fish; and Nancy — who it turns out, also hailed from the same Wisconsin area — was there. She, too, knew how to toss a lure; and Dave invited her back to Cordova to chase silver salmon.
After a very successful first day of fishing, Dave had to take off to work at the Drug Store, leaving Nancy with a pile of cohos.
“He was very impressed that I could catch, clean, and process the fish,” said Nancy, with a laugh.
One might say it was Love at First Cast. Marriage and a job for Nancy at the front desk of the Cordova U.S. Forest Service office soon followed. Nancy worked for the USFS for 25 years, beginning in 1989; Dave purchased the Cordova Drug business from Pingatore in 2000. They both have been active in community affairs and the Moose Lodge. Dave has served on the Prince William Sound Fish and Game Advisory Board for 18 years.
One of the major contributions Dave and O.B. made to Cordova was the establishment of the Ducks Unlimited program.
“O.B. was an Area Chairman in Wisconsin before he came here, and he and I decided to start a Chapter in Cordova,” Dave said.
Their efforts paid off. The annual DU Banquet is a popular local event and fundraiser for the many beneficial DU programs. In fact, this was the first year since its establishment that Dave was not involved, because of the many aspects of closing the Drug Store.
Ironically, Dave has missed many opportunities to enjoy the hunting and fishing that attracted him here, due to his commitment to filling prescriptions for Cordovans.
“It’s been pretty much six days a week for 36 years,” he admitted.
The O’Brien retirement plans included winters in Arizona and summers in Wisconsin, and their shotguns and fishing gear will surely be included.
“I’m looking forward to hunting with O.B. again,” Dave said. They also plan on visits to Alaska to see family including grandkids in Wasilla and Cordova.
Cordova will continue to have pharmaceutical services. The Cordova Community Medical Center recently purchased the inventory of the Cordova Drugstore Pharmacy, and opened a new pharmacy inside the main CCMC office on Dec. 11.
In the meantime, Dave is trying to transfer components of the business, such as the electronics, non-prescription drugs, office supplies, and greeting cards, to others in Cordova, so “they don’t go away.”
Which is just another reflection of a longtime commitment to our community.
Here’s to a happy retirement for Dave and Nancy.
And thanks for all you have done for us for so many years.
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