Dr. J. David Stratton

Dr. J. David Stratton
Dr. Stratton, 96, of Charlotte, died Sunday, December 13, 2009. Dave was born in Cowansville, PA on January 22, 1913 to the late James McGowan Stratton and Anna McGregor Aikman Stratton. He graduated high school in Kittanning, PA in 1930, attained an AB degree in 1934 and a BS degree in 1935 from West Virginia University and an MD degree from University of Chicago, Rush Medical Division in 1937. He was commissioned from ROTC at WVU as a 1st Lt. Infantry in the US Army, and after graduating medical school, he was promoted to 2nd Lt. and transferred to the US Army Medical Corps. He interned at West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh and entered general medical practice August 1938 in Brackenridge, PA.
Dave married his wife Hila October 14, 1939. In December 1940, he was called to extended active duty and served as a flight surgeon in the 47th Bomb Group of the Army Air Corps in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Sardinia and Southern France until the end of WW II, and then as a reserve officer until 1973, reaching the rank of Colonel, MC. After WWII, Dave completed his residency in ophthalmology at the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary. He then began his practice in ophthalmology in Charlotte in August 1947, where he remained until his retirement in December 1982.
During his career, he was President of the Mecklenburg County Medical Society, the North Carolina Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology Society, the International Society of O&O Secretaries, the Burns Society, and the Charlotte Nature Museum. Dave was a charter member of Covenant Presbyterian Church, serving as a deacon, Church School Superintendent, elder and then elder emeritus. He was a member of Toastmasters, Lions Club, Power Squadron and the Myers Park Country Club. After his retirement, Dave took on the daunting task ofmaintaining the climbing roses along the Sharon Road side of Sharon Towers, where he resided from 1983 to his death. He had to give up the care of his beloved roses in 2002 because of his health at the age of 89.
In addition to his parents, Dave is preceded in death by his wife Hila, his brother John Charles Stratton, and his grandson Alan William French. He is survived by his daughter Anne and Schuyler Hilts of Tucson, AZ, daughter Alice and Hill Wellford, Jr. of Richmond, VA, son James and Susan Stratton of Sacramento, CA and son Robert and Vicki Stratton of Erie, PA and Vero Beach, FL, brother Paul Stratton of Rock Hill, SC, as well as six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at Covenant Presbyterian Church, Charlotte Tuesday December 15 at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Sharon Towers Resident's Fund, 5100 Sharon Road, Charlotte, NC 28210, or to Covenant Presbyterian Church, 100 East Morehead Street, Charlotte, NC 28204. Online condolences may be sent to carolinafuneral.com.