Dr. Joo Sim Tan
Dr. Joo Sim Tan died on May 21, 2026, in Woodinville, Washington. She was born on August 8, 1937, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the daughter of Kheng Teong Tan and Pee Ging Tan (Khew). She attended the Raffles Girls School in Singapore, then entered Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, graduating in 1957. She earned a medical degree from New York University in 1965 and owned and operated her own practice in Perry, New York, until 1979.
After leaving private practice, she became the chair of pediatrics at Family Health Program in Salt Lake City, Utah, and later served as medical director of the Travelers Health Network in San Diego, among several other corporate positions. In these later endeavors, she explicitly strove to “encourage and speed integration of culturally diverse employees” and to ensure that “creativity, innovation, and free speech are not punished.”
She was a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, vice president of the American Academy of Acupuncture Medicine, and chair of the Forum on Women in Medicine and Management of the American College of Physician Executives. In 1991, she edited Gender Issues in the Workplace: A Guide for Physician Executives. In 1993, she was a delegate to Rotary International’s African Regional Congress in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Dr. Tan especially enjoyed traveling with her siblings, children, and grandchildren, as well as tennis, cooking, horseback riding, and the piano. For many years, she and husband Robert Guilford grew avocados and lemons and raised Rocky Mountain horses on a ranch in Santa Ysabel, California. Shortly after her retirement, she suffered a traumatic brain injury when the horse she was riding was spooked by a rattlesnake. Although her recovery proved challenging, the accident did not in any way diminish her skill at mah-jongg or bridge.
Sim Tan and Bob Guilford
Her marriage to Warren Fong ended in divorce. She is survived by a daughter, Karen (Gregg) Middaugh; sons Stephen (Christina), Peter (Sarah), and Clifford Fong; grandchildren Loy, Tai, David, Marina, and Lyon Fong, and Brynne and Sean Middaugh; sisters, Joo Een (Cliff) Kwan-Gett and Joo Lee Sng; and brothers Peter (Nancy) and Edwin (Poh Leng) Khew; along with several nieces and nephews. Dr. Tan was preceded in death by her husband, Robert Guilford, and a brother-in-law, Ronald Sng.
A celebration of Dr. Tan’s life will be held at 10:00 a.m. on July 20, 2026, at Living Way Church, 13609 Twin Peaks Road, Poway, California. In lieu of flowers, please consider planting a tree in her memory or supporting a child’s education.