Friends wish Hey a happy retirement

By By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
August 27, 2004
Friends and family of Dr. Dennis Hey traveled from several states and across the Atlantic Ocean to come to his retirement party.
Hey is a neonatologist, a doctor who cares for sick and critically ill babies. He has practiced medicine for more than 30 years and he was honored Thursday with a surprise party at Briarwood Country Club.
In 1992 Hey said he was ready to slow down a little bit, when he got a telephone call from Dr. Robert Blubaugh, another neonatologist in Meridian.
Hey said the call came at the right time a day when the roads in Kansas City were slick with freezing rain.
Deborah Norris has worked as Hey's secretary and office manager since 1992. She helped organize the secret party.
Hey's wife, Gloria, helped coax him to the country club a little before 5 p.m., on the pretext of eating supper. Hey blushed as he walked into a room full of friends and relatives. They applauded him and he went from person-to-person, hugging them.
As a retired doctor, Hey plans to spend more time with his grandchildren and travel, possibly to Canada later this year.
His son, Chris Hey, is a nephrologist, or kidney doctor, in Fayetteville, Ark. He also was at the country club to surprise his father.