John George Feminella Jr.

FEMINELLA, John George, Jr., M.D., F.A.C.S., died Monday, September 1, 2008. He was born on January 15, 1941, in Brooklyn, N.Y., son of the late Dr. John G. Sr. and Evelyn P. Feminella. He attended Colgate University from 1958 to 1962, and he graduated with honors, earning degrees in both mathematics and physics. While at Colgate, Dr. Feminella won the Osborne Math Prize for the highest average in mathematics, and he was a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity. Dr. Feminella received his graduate medical degree from New York Medical College in 1966, and he did his residency training at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center from 1968 to 1972. During his training at Columbia, Dr. Feminella published several notable papers, and he and his colleagues were among the first to suggest the role of communicable diseases in genital carcinogenesis. Dr. Feminella also published research on the cancer associated antigen test to detect urological cancers. After residency training, Dr. Feminella moved to Petersburg, Va., where he practiced as a board certified urologist for 35 years. He founded and was president of Petersburg Urological Associates, Ltd., since 1973 until shortly before his retirement in 2006. He was on the active medical staff of Southside Regional Medical Center, the consulting staff of John Randolph Hospital, and a clinical instructor of urology at the Medical College of Virginia. He was an active member of the Richmond Academy of Medicine, the Medical Society of Virginia, the American Medical Association, the American Urological Association, the American Association of Clinical Urologists, the American Lithotripsy Society, and he was a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Feminella also received several honors from grateful patients, who established scholarships in his name at both his medical school and residency hospitals. Aside from other accolades, Dr. Feminella received one of his most significant and unsolicited achievements by being named a Top Physician in the Guide to America's Top Physicians in 2004-2005, published by the Consumers Research Council of America. He is survived by his beloved wife, Jayne; and his devoted and loving daughters, Dr. Jayne Noel Feminella and Joy Elizabeth Feminella; his sister, Evelyn Unger; nieces, Jennifer and her husband, Steve Croston, Eve and her husband, Kevin Lignelli; brother, Stanley and his wife, JoAnn; and nephews, John and Forbes Feminella. Dr. Feminella was a member of Varina Episcopal Church, where he served on the Vestry, as an usher, and as an accounting officer. The funeral service will be held at Varina Episcopal Church in Richmond, Va., at 2 p.m. on Friday, September 5, 2008. Interment will follow at 4 p.m. in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, September 4, at the Petersburg Chapel of J. T. Morriss & Son Funeral Home & Cremation Service. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Varina Episcopal Church and St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Varina Episcopal Church is located at 2385 Mill Rd., Richmond, Va. 23231. St. Paul's is located at 110 N. Union St., Petersburg, Va. 23803. Condolences may be registered at www.jtmorriss.com.


This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.