Dr. Paul S. Woodall

WOODALL, DR. PAUL S., age 95, of Kirkwood-by-the-River, died August 17, 2003. Dr. Woodall was born in Guntersville, was a graduate of the University of Alabama and received his M.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania. While on the medical staff of the University of Chicago School of Medicine, Dr. Woodall's research reported that a large percentage of patients using the popular drug, cinchophen, died from complications of its use. His findings of the lethal effect of this drug, as reported to the convention of the American Medical Association and to the Central Society for Clinical Research, led to the drug's being banned from use by its manufacturer and the medical profession, which findings were then publicized in two issues of Time Magazine. Dr. Woodall specialized in the practice of obstetrics and gynecology in Birmingham for 40 years until his retirement in 1980, and was named Emeritus Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at University of Alabama School of Medicine. While in practice, he delivered approximately three thousand babies during his career without a maternal death. He and his wife established the Paul S. and Peggy B. Woodall Scholarship Endowment at the University of Alabama providing a stipend for medical students in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He was a member of local and state medical societies, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a Diplomat of the American Board of Obstetrics/Gynecology and a founder and life member of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He also was a former President of the Birmingham and Alabama Obstetrical and Gynecological Societies and the Birmingham Clinical Club. During World War II, Dr. Woodall served in the Air Force for five years as Flight Surgeon, attaining the rank of Lt. Colonel. Dr. Woodall was a former member, Elder and Deacon of Independent Presbyterian Church. He was also a long-time member of the Country Club of Birmingham where he played and loved the game of tennis throughout his life. Dr. Woodall was preceded in death by his wife of 65 years, Peggy Brown Woodall, and is survived by their two sons, Paul O. Woodall of Birmingham, and Alan B. Woodall and his wife, Gay, of Cashiers, North Carolina; three grandchildren, Paul O. Woodall, Jr., and his wife, Genie, of Birmingham; Elizabeth W. Hutchens and her husband, Kent, of Dearborn, Michigan; and David H. Woodall and his wife, Jackie, of Birmingham; and one great-grandchild, Thomas Alan Woodall, of Birmingham. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Stained Glass Restoration Fund of Independent Presbyterian Church or to a favorite charity. A memorial service will be held Wednesday, August 20, 2003, at 2:00 p.m., in the Chapel of Independent Presbyterian Church, after which the family will receive friends in the Church parlor. Johns Ridout's Southside directing.