A boy riding his bicycle along Fairway Drive on a Thursday afternoon slowed as he approached a crowd that included Dr. Ruth Schobel.
He said hello to his pediatrician, and she told him she was glad he was wearing a helmet.
After practicing medicine for four decades, Schobel was still dispensing health care advice.
The group of friends, patients, loved ones and officials gathered at the corner of Bedlington Road on March 27 to recognize Schobel, who has cared for three generations of children in Miami Lakes.
Mayor Josh Dieguez and Councilman Ray Garcia attended the ceremony and helped Schobel and her friend Marie Korenstein unveil one of seven new signs along Fairway Drive that say Dr. Ruth Schobel Way.
“You’re one of our ‘Day Ones’ in Miami Lakes, as I like to say,” Dieguez said about the residents who helped create a community before the town became incorporated in 2000.
Members of the third and fourth generations of the town’s developers, the Graham family – Beth Martinez and her son Danny Martinez – and company executive Anne Marie Little also attended the unveiling.
Dieguez said Korenstein suggested the street sign project to the council and encouraged its progress.
Schobel, 76, moved from Boston to Florida in 1971 and worked as a nurse at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Schobel thanked her husband Lucian Rind for encouraging her to pursue a medical degree.
“I wouldn’t be a doctor if it wasn’t for this man,” Schobel said, looking at her husband. “He’s the one that talked me into going back to school to do this.”
She attended the University of Miami school of medicine for two years.
“Because I had a degree in nursing, those classes were not premed quality,” Schobel said. “So I had to do two more years of solid math and science.”
After her residency at Jackson Memorial Hospital, she joined two other doctors at what is now North Shore Medical Center, in Miami. In 1984, she opened an office in the Cypress Village Professional Building along Fair-way Drive.
“This has been my professional address for the past 40.5 years,” Schobel said. “This is where I’ve had my practice. … Miami Lakes has been our home ever since.”
Schobel has served the community in many ways. Using her medical training, she gave talks in schools about safety, screened children for scoliosis and held pre-natal classes for expectant parents.
A past volunteer on the town’s Education Advisory Board, she belongs to the Zonta Club of Miami Lakes, which promotes equality and safety for women and girls.
In addition to her husband, Schobel thanked Korenstein and her partner in the medical practice, Dr. Merryl Dweck.
“I work part-time now, [so does] my partner Dr. Dweck,” Schobel said.
She doesn’t plan to fully retire yet, but will phase out slowly from the practice to spend more time with her family.
In the large photo, friends, patients and loved ones gather March 27 to celebrate Dr. Ruth Schobel. From left: patient Anthony Ramos, his father Roger Ramos and sister, patient Isabella Ramos; Medical Assistant Juliana Mora; Andrew Dweck; front desk staff Wendy Lara; Schobel’s husband Lucian Rind; Dr. Merryl Dweck; stepdaughter Osi Rind; patient Sarah Khan; Dr. Ruth Schobel; patient Crystal Roheues; Marie and Harold Korenstein; Mayor Josh Dieguez; Councilman Ray Garcia; Anne Marie Little, vice president, Commercial Division, The Graham Companies; Beth Martinez, executive vice president, The Graham Companies, senior vice president, Residential Division; Danny Martinez, project manager, Construction, The Graham Companies and Grethel and Patrick Kunkel. Photo: Ydalis Navarro/Town of Miami Lakes.