I like that he went by “Chick” and endorsed the life alert alarm.
(ETA: I don’t mean this to sound flip but I figured MPSIMS is still the place for it, even for a full remarkable life like his.)
ObColumn, one I always liked: Why Does the Surgeon General Wear a Uniform?
That’s sad. He turned out to be one of the lights of the Reagan administration. He put integrity before politics, and worked to help stem the AIDS epidemic when nearly every other person in the White House wanted to ignore it. 96 years is a darn good run, but he will be missed.
I always enjoyed seeing him on TV as a kid, all decked out in his uniform. Seemed like a stand-up guy (to a little kid, anyhow), and I expect he’d have made an excellent grampa, with that tuggable beard. 
He truly had all the medical poop.
R. I. P.
Yea, I’m too young to have much of an opinion on his actual job performance, but the fact that he was so distinctive looking meant that he was the only part of the Reagan Admin I actually remember being able to recognize as a kid.
He put public health issues before politics. Very admirable man.
RIP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeUtCxe-xDg
Ali G/ C. Everett Koop
Way back in 1988, the Capitol Steps parodied “Little Deuce Coupe” into “Little Doc Koop”. In a televised performance, they had him on stage to deliver the line “You don’t know what she’s got”.
One of my very few “brushes with a celebrity” involved Dr. Koop. About twenty years ago, when I was in college, a friend of mine was invited to the home of Dr. Koop’s son, who was the pastor of a church I attended in Vermont. It was Easter Sunday. I was invited to come along at (literally) the last minute since another guy couldn’t make it for some reason. So we went to the younger Koop’s house. C. Everett Koop and lots of other extended family were there.
It was sort of surreal to find myself sitting there with this family, with C. Everett Koop carving a roast, when my expectations for that Sunday were more likely to involve leftover pizza back at the dorm.
The whole family was very friendly. I don’t even remember what we talked about-- mostly family stuff, I guess.
Just a few weeks ago I was thinking about that incident, and figured Dr. Koop had to be up into his mid-nineties by now. I didn’t bother to look it up, but I knew he must have still been alive because I would have noticed his passing in the news.
So he finally flew the coop for good? 
He did some good work as Surgeon General. R.I.P.