VIRGINIA TULLIS "GINGER" LATHAM M.D.

1940 - 2017

LATHAM, Virginia "Ginger" Tullis, MD Age 76, of Harvard, MA, succumbed to metastatic pancreatic cancer on April 21. Ginger was born on May 28, 1940, in Durham, North Carolina, the first child of James Lyman Tullis, MD, and Marjorie (White) Tullis. She resided in Harvard, MA, where she lived with her beloved husband, David W. Latham, Sr., with whom she shared 57 years of marriage. Ginger, who had a great love of learning, graduated from Beaver Country Day School in Chestnut Hill, MA and then went on to Duke University as a Honorary Duke National Scholar. She graduated from Boston University. After raising 5 sons, Ginger enrolled in Harvard Medical School and completed her residency in Internal Medicine. She practiced for many years at Emerson Hospital in Concord, MA. She also served as Chief of Medicine and then as Chief of Staff at Emerson Hospital as well as working as the hospital's Quality Control medical advisor. Those interests led her to work with the Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) and the American Medical Association (AMA) and thus to multiple roles and leadership responsibilities within those organizations at the district and state level, chairing multiple committees and task forces and eventually becoming President of MMS. As a long-time leading voice of the Massachusetts delegation of the American Medical Association, Dr. Latham fought for the practice of ethical, responsible, national healthcare, and worked to improve standards of care. Her roles at the AMA culminated as Chair of the Board of the Senior Physicians Division, which under her leadership became a permanent section of the organization.Dr. Latham retired gradually and reluctantly as her own health became more and more impaired by rheumatologic and cardiac disease over the past decade. However, she stayed active in other aspects of her life until very recently. She took great pleasure in leadership roles for Harvard town activities including the local Garden Club Board, the Harvard Woman's Club (HWC) and a weekly bridge group of the HWC in conjunction with the Harvard Committee on Aging. Ginger and her husband loved to spend time with family and to travel all over the world during their years together. Virginia Tullis Latham is survived by her loving and beloved husband, Dr. David Winslow Latham, Sr, as well as their five sons and their wives: James Allen and Wendy (Doulton) Latham of Los Angeles; Peter White and Maureen (O'Connor) Latham of Acton, MA; Drs. Andrew Scott and Karen (Bevacqua) Latham of San Francisco; Dr. Jonathan Nichols  and Sarah (Sanborn) Latham of Deerfield, MA; and David Winslow, Jr and Dawn (Gupta) Latham of Saint Louis. She was beloved by her 12 grandchildren – Christian, Nicole, Hannah, Emily, Harrison, Ian, Emma, Dean, Jamie, David, Luke and Elizabeth Latham. She is survived by her younger sisters, Ann Tullis Pearce of Point Clear AL and Susan Gay Dane of Cohasset MA; and her brother James L.L. Tullis of Palm Beach, FL. She was predeceased by an infant brother, William Stuart Tullis. The funeral will be held at Trinity Church 81 Elm St., CONCORD, on Saturday, April 29, at 2:30PM, followed by a reception in the parish hall. Burial service will follow at Bellevue Cemetery on Route 110 in Harvard, MA. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Virginia Tullis Latham MD Scholarship Fund to provide tuition assistance to deserving medical students in need. Checks may be made payable to the Middlesex Central District of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and mailed in care of William Burtis, MD, PhD, 25 Lowell Road, Concord, MA 01742.  To share a memory or offer a condolence visit: www.concordfuneral.com

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