Dr. John David Carney, 98, passed away peacefully at home in the early hours of December 21, 2025—the winter solstice—in Jeffersonville, Indiana, the river town near where his life began nearly a century earlier.
Born September 30, 1927, in Batesville, Indiana, to Joel and Sue Carney, John grew up in small Ohio River communities that shaped his steady Midwestern values: work done well and humility as a default. His father, Dr. Joel Carney, practiced medicine in Jeffersonville—a path John would follow. He attended Jeffersonville High School before completing his senior year at Kessler Military School in Missouri during the final years of World War II. He began his college years at Indiana University only to be drafted into the Army during his freshman year.
In 1946, John was sent on a troop ship to postwar Japan, where he served as a paratrooper. After returning home, he resumed his studies and earned his undergraduate degree from Indiana University in 1950 and his medical degree from Tulane University in 1954. He completed his internship in California, where he met his first wife, F. Virginia Ryan, a practicing nurse. After briefly practicing alongside his father in Jeffersonville, John and Virginia moved to San Francisco in 1959, where he completed his pathology residency at UCSF.
John joined Eden Hospital in Castro Valley, California, in 1963 as a pathologist, eventually serving as Chief Pathologist. He became board-certified in five medical specialties: anatomic pathology, clinical pathology, dermatopathology, cytopathology, and nuclear medicine. He was the physician whom physicians trusted, identifying cancers, infections, and abnormalities that empowered other doctors to act.
For more than four decades, he worked at Eden full time, retired and then returned to pathology, doing consulting work at Oakland, Alameda, and several San Francisco hospitals well into his early 90s. He retired at 93.
John was a man of few words who chose them carefully. He studied Spanish for decades, worked the Sunday word scramble, and solved Wordle daily, often in two guesses. A devoted reader, he returned often to The Lord of the Rings, drawn to Tolkien's languages and worlds. A pianist and jazz lover, he filled many evenings with music.
He ran, swam, hiked, and golfed religiously—often barefoot until his country club intervened. Even in his final decade, he held two-minute planks without blinking. He built Redwood decks behind the family's Eichler home, capable with his hands in ways that extended well beyond the microscope.
Above all, John was a true gentleman in the best sense of the word. He was kind, gentle, and self-effacing. In 98 years, he never spoke unkindly about another person. He showed up, did the work, and treated everyone with dignity.
John was preceded in death by his first wife, F. Virginia Ryan Carney and his grandson, Mark Ramirez. He is survived by his wife of nearly 30 years, Leilani Hanger Carney, whom he had known since their youth in Indiana. They reunited after Virginia's death and married in the 1990s. In 2020, they returned to their Indiana roots. Leilani remained his rock through all the years that followed.
He leaves behind his children Beth Carney, Sue Ramirez, John Carney, Joel Carney, Colleen Carney, Meghan Carney, and Shanan Carney; his stepchildren Amy Hanger Jones and Jess Hanger; his grandchildren Christine, Caitlin, Christopher, David, Sean, Laura, and Ann and the children and grandchildren of Amy and Jess; and his great-grandchildren Tristin, Gage, and Catalina.
In keeping with his humble nature, John requested that no formal services be held.
John set the bar for integrity and work ethic. He was kind, consistently. His last Wordle puzzle, on December 5th, was AMONG.
Born September 30, 1927, in Batesville, Indiana, to Joel and Sue Carney, John grew up in small Ohio River communities that shaped his steady Midwestern values: work done well and humility as a default. His father, Dr. Joel Carney, practiced medicine in Jeffersonville—a path John would follow. He attended Jeffersonville High School before completing his senior year at Kessler Military School in Missouri during the final years of World War II. He began his college years at Indiana University only to be drafted into the Army during his freshman year.
In 1946, John was sent on a troop ship to postwar Japan, where he served as a paratrooper. After returning home, he resumed his studies and earned his undergraduate degree from Indiana University in 1950 and his medical degree from Tulane University in 1954. He completed his internship in California, where he met his first wife, F. Virginia Ryan, a practicing nurse. After briefly practicing alongside his father in Jeffersonville, John and Virginia moved to San Francisco in 1959, where he completed his pathology residency at UCSF.
John joined Eden Hospital in Castro Valley, California, in 1963 as a pathologist, eventually serving as Chief Pathologist. He became board-certified in five medical specialties: anatomic pathology, clinical pathology, dermatopathology, cytopathology, and nuclear medicine. He was the physician whom physicians trusted, identifying cancers, infections, and abnormalities that empowered other doctors to act.
For more than four decades, he worked at Eden full time, retired and then returned to pathology, doing consulting work at Oakland, Alameda, and several San Francisco hospitals well into his early 90s. He retired at 93.
John was a man of few words who chose them carefully. He studied Spanish for decades, worked the Sunday word scramble, and solved Wordle daily, often in two guesses. A devoted reader, he returned often to The Lord of the Rings, drawn to Tolkien's languages and worlds. A pianist and jazz lover, he filled many evenings with music.
He ran, swam, hiked, and golfed religiously—often barefoot until his country club intervened. Even in his final decade, he held two-minute planks without blinking. He built Redwood decks behind the family's Eichler home, capable with his hands in ways that extended well beyond the microscope.
Above all, John was a true gentleman in the best sense of the word. He was kind, gentle, and self-effacing. In 98 years, he never spoke unkindly about another person. He showed up, did the work, and treated everyone with dignity.
John was preceded in death by his first wife, F. Virginia Ryan Carney and his grandson, Mark Ramirez. He is survived by his wife of nearly 30 years, Leilani Hanger Carney, whom he had known since their youth in Indiana. They reunited after Virginia's death and married in the 1990s. In 2020, they returned to their Indiana roots. Leilani remained his rock through all the years that followed.
He leaves behind his children Beth Carney, Sue Ramirez, John Carney, Joel Carney, Colleen Carney, Meghan Carney, and Shanan Carney; his stepchildren Amy Hanger Jones and Jess Hanger; his grandchildren Christine, Caitlin, Christopher, David, Sean, Laura, and Ann and the children and grandchildren of Amy and Jess; and his great-grandchildren Tristin, Gage, and Catalina.
In keeping with his humble nature, John requested that no formal services be held.
John set the bar for integrity and work ethic. He was kind, consistently. His last Wordle puzzle, on December 5th, was AMONG.
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