Harold Cedric Field was born December 23, 1917, in Minneapolis, MN, to Andrew and Myrtle (Devoice) Field. Both parents were Scandinavian, his fath Swedish and his mother Norwegian. A year after Harold's birth the family moved to small railroad town in North Dakota where his father was station master until he died 5 years later.
His mother moved the family back to the city for a year and then returned to village life where she did housework for wages. Then she married a man in a nearby village who owned several small houses to rent. In Harold's small school, the two grades were often taught in the same classroom. During school holidays, Harold repaired or painted his step-father's houses.
At the outbreak of world War II, Harold moved to Ohio to work in a school, but shortly returned to North Dakota to register at the draft board, which rejected his registration after he told them , "I could not kill anybody." After a short time of resuming house repair work for his step-father, the draft board called him back, classified him as 1AO (non-combatant service only), and sent him to St. Louis for training. There he met his first Quaker, who was also a trainee and took Harold to Meeting with him while they were stationed there.
Immediately after they completed training they were sent to a post in North Africa. German soldiers were still stationed on the continent, but Harold's unit inched eastward, and at one point built a hospital next to the Sahara Desert. Later personnel of the unit were shipped safely across the Mediterranean to Italy, but their medical supplies didn't make it; German planes sank them at sea. Their unit stayed in South Italy until they received new supplies, then relocated to a village in North Italy, where they built a hospital to treat injured Allied troops until VE day. The village had no movie theatre but did have an opera house. There Harold learned to love opera and speak Italian, both interests which remained with him years later.
After his discharge, Harold completed his college degree at the University of North Dakota, and then a medical degree at Northwestern University Medical School, supported by a combination of GI Bill funds and wages from janitorial work. While in medical school he met Bill Kautz, who was a seminary student, through their assistance to a national meeting of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. They continued their friendship long after through correspondence.
Harold married a nurse from a Wisconsin agricultural family of German extraction. They lived in a series of small towns in Oregon, Iowa, and Pennsylvania, where he practiced medicine and worked to gain the skill of an orthopedic surgeon. In Philadelphia he completed those credentials and supervised trainees.
He and his wife had three sons and a daughter. Harold's wife died at home under family and hospice care. Harold corresponded with Bill Kautz for as long as Bill lived; afterwards with Amanda Kautz. Several years later, Harold and Amanda decided to marry and live in Honululu. They had ten years together before Harold got ill.
Harold Field is survived by his wife Amanda Kautz; sons Kenneth, Russell; and daughter Holly; grandchildren Emily, Lincoln, Quinn, and Landis.