Dr. William H. Fee Jr.

Dr. William H. Fee Jr., affectionately known as Poppers, of Franklin, passed away peacefully at his home on Sunday, March 15, 2026. Born in East Orange, New Jersey, on September 21, 1942, he was the son of the late William Homer Fee Sr. and Jean Waters Fee.

A 1964 graduate of Lafayette College, Dr. Fee earned his Bachelor of Arts degree before graduating from Duke University School of Medicine in 1968. Following a rotating internship at York Hospital and an Internal Medicine residency at Indiana University Hospital, he served two years in the United States Army as a General Medical Officer, attaining the rank of Major before his honorable discharge in 1972. He then completed a fellowship in pulmonary disease at the Indiana University Hospital System. In 1974, he began his medical practice at Franklin Hospital as an Internal Medicine physician, devoting the next five decades to the care of patients in Venango County until his retirement in 2022. He served as Chief of Internal Medicine and as Director of the ICU and Respiratory Therapy, yet nothing mattered more to him than his patients, many of whom remember his thoughtful early-morning and late-night calls.

Beyond medicine, Dr. Fee remained deeply connected to his community. In 2021, he was inducted into the Franklin High School Hall of Fame for his service, an honor he treasured. For more than thirty years, he was a familiar presence on the sidelines at Franklin football and basketball games. He sang in the choir at First United Methodist Church in Franklin and with the Venango Chorus, and during medical school he sang in the Duke Chapel Choir. An active and energetic man, he enjoyed early-morning racquetball, chopping wood for his furnace, and helping his wife tend to their cherished Seldom Rest Farm. After retirement, he was a member of the Franklin Kiwanis Club, enjoyed weekly breakfasts with friends at Linda Lou’s, and looked forward to his annual February golf trip to Florida and Tuesday morning golf at Sleepy Hollow.

On April 1, 1982, he married Joyce Sutherland, who survives him along with his loving family. Dr. Fee lived life fully, attending his grandson Noah’s basketball game and granddaughter Adlee’s hockey game with his daughter Andra and son-in-law Nick the day before he died. He is remembered as a dedicated physician, devoted husband and father, and a man who gave generously of himself to his community and the people he loved.