 Dr. Richard AnthonyDr. Anthony moved to Danville in 1970 with his parents and two younger sisters as an eighth-grader attending the old Charlotte Wood Middle School. Originally from Minneapolis, MN, the family also lived in Chicago and upstate New York prior to relocating to California. Earlier childhood interests included building go-carts, sketching/drafting homes, and making model cars and planes. There are also many fond memories camping, canoeing, hunting, and fishing with his father and grandfather in the wilderness areas on the Canadian border of northern Minnesota. As a 10 year old, Dr. Anthony spent the better part of the winter and spring season helping his dad build a 16-foot fiberglass sailboat in the garage. Later that summer, while teaching his father how to sail the boat for the first time, he vividly remembers looking up at the moon in amazement that the spacecraft Apollo had first landed on it earlier that same day. While attending San Ramon Valley High School, Dr. Anthony played varsity football, wrestling, and track. His main hobby was fixing up and customizing cars. His first was a classic 1962 Austin Healy Roadster. After that, he built up a 1967 Pontiac Firebird convertible muscle car. Once in a while, he and his buddies—along with half the other kids in the valley—could be seen "cruising the Main" in Walnut Creek on a Friday night. It was during the summer between his freshman and sophomore year in high school that Dr. Anthony became interested in becoming an orthodontist. Up until then, he always desired to become an architect. That summer was mostly spent working as a construction laborer on new homes in town. On that job he was able to meet and observe the architect at work. At the same time, Dr. Anthony had just finished his own orthodontic treatment with Dr. Priewe and had become quite familiar with his career. In the experience of doing several different jobs, sometimes one learns as much about what they don't want to do as much as what they want to do. It was clearly evident that heavy manual labor was out; college was definitely in. But what would he choose to study? Would it be architecture? Architects were designers; but an orthodontist was both a designer and a builder. Besides making great smiles for his patients, he designed his home in Danville and his cabin at Lake Tahoe. For a while he even had a satellite orthodontic practice in Tahoe City. That was all the inspiration that was needed. An orthodontist was a natural fit. As a younger kid, Dr. Anthony had loved to design and build things all along. As an older kid, he thought it would be nice to hangout more in Tahoe. After high school, Dr. Anthony attended the University of California at Berkeley and graduated with a bachelors of arts degree in physiology. He subsequently completed his dental education at the University of Southern California receiving his DDS degree in 1985. He was president of the Psi Omega Dental Fraternity and a member of the Omicron Kappa Upsilon Dental Honor Society. During college and in dental school he also managed (with the help of his father) to restore four more cars. They were a couple of Fiat coupes, a 1969 Jaguar XKE, and a 1962 Chevy pickup with a same-era overhead camper top. After practicing as an associate general dentist in southern California for a year, Dr. Anthony returned to begin postgraduate orthodontic residency training at his former USC Dental School. In 1990 he obtained his certificate in orthodontics and master of science (MS) degree in Craniofacial Biology. Later that same year, the current office was constructed in its present location at the Blackhawk Medical Center. With the help of his friend, Gary Osterman (architect), and his mother, Elaine (interior designer), the design was featured as "Office of the Month" in the nationally published May 1994 edition of Dental Economics. During the first few years of practice, Dr. Anthony also worked part-time as a real estate broker in his mother's successful new home sales company. Throughout the decade of the 1990s, Dr. Anthony and several of his friends coached football for the well-known San Ramon Valley Thunderbird Football & Cheer Program. Still a bachelor—and no longer building cars—most of his recreation activities included golf, skiing, snowmobiling, sailing, and learning to become a private pilot. Dr. Anthony met his wife Michele, a third-grade teacher, in early 1999. The two were actually simultaneously setup to meet one other by each of their close friends. Michele's friends had children in his orthodontic practice; and Rich's friends had children in her third-grade class. Michele is a wonderful cook, loves to travel, and is an accomplished skier. They were married in September 2001 and moved to their present residence in Danville. The couple was blessed the following year with the birth of their son, Ryan. He is active in baseball, soccer, swimming, and skiing. He loves to draw and play at the beach. The family can always be found up at Lake Tahoe either hiking, biking, skiing, or relaxing at the beach. Dr. Anthony recently was asked by his colleagues at the USC Graduate Orthodontic Department to teach week-long course in clinical orthodontics to the second-year residents. This in itself was gratifying; however, it really was a special treat to join his two favorite teachers, Dr. Harry Dougherty and Dr. Keith Tanaka at the session. Both doctors ran the USC Orthodontic Department for over 35 years before retiring in the early 1990s. Their knowledge and expertise is unsurpassed in the field. They have taught more board certified orthodontists than any other educator in the country. Move your mouse over the slideshow below to pause or skip forward and backward. |
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