SALISBURY – Dr. Stephen Vasil Kishev, 85, of Salisbury died at Trinity Oaks Nursing Home January 4, 2007 of long standing medical problems.

Dr. Kishev was born on August 14, 1921 in Ichtimon, Bulgaria a son of Vasil and Nadezda Kishev.

He attended high school in Sofia, Bulgaria and medical School in Vienna, Austria and Tuebingen, Germany from 1940 to 1945. He did his General Surgery and Urology Residency in Bulovka Hospital, Prague, Czechoslovakia then served from 1952 – 1963 as Chief of medical School Urology Section in Sofia.

Dr. Kishev and his wife, Tanja, escaped Communist Bulgaria in 1963 by way of an isolated check point in the Julian Alps. They were political refugees in Vienna while he worked as staff surgeon at Rudolph Spietal Hospital.

In May 1964, he and his wife were granted visas to come to the United States. In order to practice medicine in the United States, Dr. Kishev had to repeat his internship and residency. He did an internship at Orange Memorial Hospital, Orange, New Jersey, and a residency at VA Administration Medical Center, East Orange, New Jersey. He served as Chief Resident at Mt. Sinai, Miami, Florida. Following this in 1968, he was employed by the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Asheville, NC as Chief of the Urology Section and Clinical Associate Professor to Duke University Medical Residents. At this time, he also maintained a private practice.

In 1977 he transferred to the Veterans Administration Hospital in Salisbury where he was in charge of the Urology Service. He retired in 1987.

He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Tanja Petrov Kishev.

Services: The body will be cremated and a Memorial Service will be held at the Lutheran Home Chapel, Klumac Road, Salisbury, NC at 4:00 PM Tuesday, January 9, 2007, by Rev. Darrell Norris, chaplain.

Visitation: A visitation will be held after the service at the Lutheran Home. At other times Mrs. Kishev will be at her home.

Memorials: In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, 1359 Broadway, Suite 1509, New York, NY 10018 or the donor’s choice.

Evergreen Cremation Services is assisting the Kishev Family.