Obituaries

Anees Fogley, MD, of Lake Waynewood passed away on September 8th following an illness.

Born in Scranton on December 15, 1951, Anees was the son of the late Josephine (Shibley) Fogley and Kamille “Bob” Fogley. His stepmother was Barbara (Burke) Fogley. He was a graduate of Scranton Preparatory School, the University of Scranton and Jefferson Medical College. In 1980, he completed his internal medicine residency at Abington Memorial Hospital and returned to Scranton to open his medical practice in the McCauley Building, adjacent to the former Mercy Hospital. In the final months of his residency, he met Karen Gardner in the hospital’s medical library. They married before the end of the year and would have celebrated their 45th anniversary on October 18th. The grandchild of Lebanese immigrants, Anees was proud of his heritage. His identity was molded by the values and traditions of his parents and a large extended family. Hospitality, good food and storytelling were essential to every gathering. His parents owned Fogley’s Market, a small grocery store in the front of their home in West Scranton. From a young age, Anees and his siblings worked alongside their parents, learning the values of honesty, organization and hard work. Years of delivering groceries to neighbors and waiting on customers gave him a natural ease with people, connecting to others with warmth and humor and through stories beginning with his signature phrase, “Did I ever tell you about the time…?” Family life and the store were inseparable; years later, the same could be said of his medical practice. Medicine was Anees’s calling. He practiced independently at the same location for 41 years until his retirement in 2021. For most of that time, his sister Mary Kay and Karen served as office staff. Anees lived the words of his favorite poet, Kahlil Gibran: Work is love made visible. He was not only a gifted clinician, but also a trusted friend and confidant to his patients and their families. Embracing both the art and science of medicine, he believed that making a personal connection was just as important as making a correct diagnosis. Honest, intrepid and principled, Anees was a natural advocate for the welfare of his community. He was among the founding organizers of a grassroots effort to block construction of a co- generation plant in a densely populated area of Scranton. Years later, along with other concerned parents, teachers and citizens, he formed “The Children’s Committee” to ensure that construction of Scranton High School was completed after the school board voted to halt it. The successful outcomes of both efforts, among others, had a lasting impact on Scranton. Anees had an abiding faith and a deep connection to nature, appreciating daily the beauty and intricacy of God’s creation.

He was steadfastly devoted to his family, friends and patients and will be deeply missed. Along with Karen, he is survived by his daughters, Sarah Cook and husband Timothy, Rebecca Fogley and husband Richard Doyle, and Rachel Fogley; five grandchildren, Eleanor, Matilda and Jonah Cook, and Gardner and Maeve Doyle; siblings, Judy Gasiewski, Mary Kay Judge, Susan Fogley, Roseann Polishan and husband Stephen, and Michael Fogley and wife Courtney; and many aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews.

A celebration of Anees’s life is scheduled for Saturday, September 27th, at 11:00 AM at Covenant Presbyterian Church, 550 Madison Ave., Scranton, to be conducted by the Rev. Dr. Bernard Nti.

Family and friends may pay their respects Friday from 3:00-7:00 PM at the Kevin K. Kearney Funeral Home, Inc., 125 N. Main Ave., Scranton. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Anees’s name to “Waynewood Association,” 16 Waynewood Road, Lake Ariel, PA 18436. Gifts will be designated to Lake Waynewood’s Forest Fund for the preservation of its woodlands.