John Alexander McMahon

John Alexander McMahon, 87, of Durham, died Thursday, October 30, 2008, at his home with his wife by his side.
He was born in Monongahela, PA, on July 31, 1921, the son of John Hamilton and Jean Alexander McMahon, and grew up in St. Petersburg, FL. He graduated from St. Petersburg High School in 1938, from Duke University with a Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude in 1942, attended Harvard Business School in 1942-43, and received the Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School in 1948.
Alex McMahon enlisted in the United States Army in 1942, was commissioned in the Army Air Corps in 1942, served in the South Pacific during World War II, was a member of the United States Air Force Reserve from 1946 to 1972, and retired with the rank of Colonel in 1972.
He joined the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1948, serving as Professor of Public Law and Government and Assistant Director of the Institute of Government. Leadership positions in public service and health care followed. In 1959, he became General Counsel and Secretary-Treasurer of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners. He resigned in 1965 to become vice president of Hospital Savings Association. In that position, he helped orchestrate the merger of HSA and Hospital Care Association and in 1968 became first president of the consolidated North Carolina Blue Cross and Blue Shield, located in the new building on the Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard. In 1972, he left North Carolina for Chicago, IL, to become the president of the American Hospital Association, a position he held for 14 years. He returned to Durham in 1986 to become chairman and professor of the Department of Health Administration in the Medical Center at Duke University. With the transfer of the Program in Health Administration to the Fuqua School of Business at Duke, he became Executive-in-Residence in 1992.
Alex McMahon was the author of numerous books and articles on county and state government and on hospitals and health care. He served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Duke University from 1970 to 1983, as chairman of the Board from 1971 to 1983, and as chairman- emeritus after 1983. He was a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and the North Carolina Institute of Medicine. In recognition of his tireless service and achievements, he received numerous awards. Among these were honorary degrees of doctor of law from Wake Forest University and doctor of science from Georgetown University, awards from the American Hospital Association, the American College of Healthcare Executives, the American Medical Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges, and from Duke University, the University Medal in 2002. In his honor, the American Hospital Association established the J. Alexander McMahon Professorship in Health Policy and Management at Duke University.
In 1947, he married Betty Wagner of St. Petersburg, FL and York Beach, Maine. They moved to Chapel Hill in 1948 where their four children were born. They moved to Chicago in 1973 and divorced in 1977. In 1977, he married Anne Fountain Willets of Tarboro and Durham, NC; she died in 1996. In 1999, he married Anne Hall Davis of Grand Rapids, MI and Harwich Port, MA; they have divided their time between Durham, Myrtle Beach, SC, and Sneem, Ireland.
His family will remember his wisdom, compassion, generosity, and joyful sense of humor. He taught his children the pleasure of debate and discussion and encouraged and guided them toward independence.
He will be deeply missed by his wife, children, grandchildren, step- children, and step-grandchildren.
He is survived by his wife, Anne Hall McMahon "Moanie"; a brother, William Wallace McMahon of Hilton Head, SC; four children, Alexander Talpey McMahon and his wife, Ellen Larson McMahon of Pleasanton, CA, Sarah Francis McMahon of Brunswick, ME, Elizabeth Wagner McMahon and her husband, Gary Peter Gordon of Easton, PA, and Ann Wallace McMahon and her husband, Simon James Martin Jackson of London, England; and five grandchildren, Rebecca Leah Gordon and Hannah Ruth Gordon of Easton, PA, Alice Elizabeth Smith McMahon of Brunswick, ME, and Alexander Robert McMahon and Patrick Lars McMahon of Pleasanton, CA.
A memorial service will be held on Friday, November 14, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. in Duke Chapel at Duke University, followed by a reception at the Fuqua School of Business.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Duke University Marine Laboratory to a fund in the name of John Alexander McMahon and Anne Hall McMahon, or to Durham County Emergency Medical Services.