Dr. Steve Schwager will wrap up his 36-year career as a dentist where he started it: on Bainbridge Island.

Schwager is stepping aside for a semi-retirement, and starting Sept. 1, will turn his practice in the Port Madison Building over to Dr. Andrew Fiscus, a recent arrival from Boulder, Colorado.

It’s not a full goodbye for Schwager. He’ll still work one day a week, Thursdays, while the new dentist will see patients Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Still, there are no grandiose plans on how he’ll spend his free time now, no round-the-world trips in the offing.

“I’m fortunate to have four terrific grandchildren, and I can’t wait to spend more time with them. I look forward to slowing down and enjoying life as it comes along,” he said.

That might mean more time in the garden, or taking a few classes.

“I still have a little gas left in the tank,” Schwager added. “I want to move on to other things before the gas runs out.”

“It was time,” he said. “I never really knew when it would be time, but I had a sense if the right thing came along, at the right moment — and it did.”

The right thing was the right man: Dr. Fiscus.

Fiscus has been a dentist for 14 years since his graduation from the University of Colorado Dental School. He practiced for a remote year in Alaska for the state’s Department of Public Health before returning to Boulder to set up a solo private practice.

“I think he has a very similar management style,” Schwager said, and added that he has full confidence in turning over the reins to Fiscus.

“This is a good feeling,” he said.

Time is right

Dentistry in general is changing, and there are different ways that dental practices are going in the insurance-driven industry.

“I think Andrew’s approach to providing good dental care to his patients is still the kind of care I like to see going forward. It’s going to be an easy hand-off,” he said.

Schwager has been on Bainbridge since 1979, and he’s going to stay.

Though he grew up in Seattle, his affection for the island started early.

“I got to spend Julys renting a beach cabin with my family, so I grew up loving Bainbridge,” Schwager recalled.

Bainbridge calling

Midway through dental school at the University of Washington, and Bainbridge Island again came to mind.

“I started thinking about where to work. I had a very fortuitous visit to Bainbridge one day. I pulled into the good doctor Jim MacFarlane’s office and we had a friendly chat,” he recalled.

MacFarlane agreed to rent him space, and Schwager’s long career on the island got underway.

Year after year, he stayed, and soon came the effort to build his current building on Ericksen Avenue in the early 1980s.

There’s been a lot of patients since then, too many to count, as he’s helped one generation and then the next.

Schwager said he’s been fortunate to have a wonderful, loyal staff over the years.

The people, too, have been terrific.

“There’s the technical part; the science of the tooth and how to do a filling and a crown … but that’s just part of who a person is,” Schwager explained.

“That my patients allow me to be part of their health care. To a large degree, it’s the people. This island is filled with a lot of really interesting, creative people,” he said.

Schwager sent a letter to his patients on July 31 notifying them of the change.

Making his day

That same day, another surprise came through the door. Gov. Jay Inslee popped in with First Lady Trudy, asking to use the fax machine.

He had something else in mind, though. He pulled out a proclamation making July 31 “Dr. Steven G. Schwager Day.”

The governor read it aloud, bringing the dental office to a standstill. Inslee seemed to take particular delight when he got to the whereas that said the dentist “intends to devote his prodigious talent full-time to First Dental Lady Anne Schwager.”

“Jay and I bumped elbows in high school basketball,” the dentist said.

The island beckons

Fiscus’ story about coming to Bainbridge also has a bit of a familiar ring.

He’s married, with two young children, and Fiscus recalled how some friends moved to the area and encouraged the dentist and his wife, Meredith, to come out and visit.

The couple came out for a long weekend.

“We were walking around Bloedel and I’m looking in her eyes and I’m like, uh-oh. This is it,” Fiscus laughed.

The family moved here six weeks ago.

Fiscus — who also has experience in aesthetic dentistry (veneers and restoration for function and appearance) and sleep apnea/anti-snoring therapies — comes from a family filled with health care professionals.

His father was an ophthalmologist; his mother, a nurse.

His oldest sister is a dentist (who married a dentist), as is his brother. The father of his brother’s wife is also a dentist.

All told, there are nine dentists in the family.

“It’s a great job, because you get to know all of these people and build these relationships,” he said.

Schwager agreed.

“To be here all these years and not bounce around, and then to be able to take care of a second generation and have some grandchildren of patients come in. It’s very gratifying and rewarding to be a part of that. And I’ll miss that,” Schwager said.

“I can’t imagine a better place to have a dental practice, and live, and raise your kids. Andrew came to the right spot,” he said.