* Dr. Mayo Joseph Poppen; Ophthalmologist
Dr. Mayo Joseph Poppen, who practiced ophthalmology in Van Nuys for 32 years, has died at his Mission Viejo home. He was 80.
A former Encino resident, Poppen died Saturday of complications of Parkinson’s disease, said his wife, Mary Elizabeth Poppen.
Born in Ionia, Kan., Poppen graduated from the University of Kansas Medical School and was a general practitioner in Texas and New Mexico.
During World War II, he served as a flight surgeon in the U. S. Navy and later became a resident in ophthalmology at Harvard’s Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston. In 1948, he established his ophthalmology practice in Van Nuys, where he worked until his retirement in 1980.
Poppen was a member of the Kiwanis Club and the Van Nuys Chamber of Commerce.
He is survived by his wife of 31 years; son Joseph Douglas Poppen of Palmdale; daughter Julia Poppen Rezek of West Los Angeles; sister Cheryl Orndorff of Springfield, Ill., and two grandchildren.
A funeral was held Wednesday, with burial at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills. O’Connor Laguna Hills Mortuary handled the arrangements. Donations can be made in Poppen’s name to Valley Presbyterian Hospital, 15107 Vanowen St., Van Nuys 91405, or to the Estelle Doheny Eye Foundation, 1355 San Pablo St., Los Angeles 90033.
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