John M. McCammond M.D.

1936 - 2025

John M. McCammond, M.D.

December 24, 1936 - January 27, 2025

John M. McCammond, MD, 89, of Kearney, passed away January 25, 2025, at C.H.I. Health Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney. Memorial Services will be 11 a.m., February 1, 2025, at First Presbyterian Church in Kearney, with Pastor Clint Cozier officiating. A private family burial will take place at Kearney Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4 to 6 p.m., January 31, 2025, at Horner Lieske McBride & Kuhl Funeral and Cremation Services. In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to the family to establish the John M. McCammond, MD scholarship for medical students. Visit www.hlmkfuneral.com to leave a tribute or message of condolence. Horner Lieske McBride & Kuhl Funeral and Cremation Services in Kearney are in charge of arrangements.

John Marshall McCammond, MD, was born in Marshalltown, Iowa, to Faye McCammond and Margaret Marshall McCammond. He grew up in Des Moines, Iowa. John's father passed away when John was nine, and from that day forward, he worked hard to help his Mom. His early years were spent as a paper boy for the Des Moines Register and Tribune. John attended Theodore Roosevelt High School where he met his future wife, Shirley Pease. During his high school years he was a cheerleader, involved in choirs at school and church and loved to golf (sneaking into Waveland Golf Course to avoid the green fees). His love of singing and golf continued through his entire life. He had a motorcycle accident that laid him up for almost a year and that is when he decided to pursue medicine as a career. John was known for his great sense of humor and loved to tell a joke, a trait he shares with his brother Frank.

John and Shirley married in 1953 and moved to Iowa City, Iowa, where he attended undergraduate and medical school. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha, excelling in all his academic endeavors. After completing a year of internship in Detroit, Mich., the family moved to Kearney in 1961, where he began practicing medicine with Dr. Sanford Staley.

The following November John was drafted into the Air Force, moving the family (four children) to Del Rio, Texas, during the Cuban missile crisis. He was a Captain and served as a physician at Laughlin AFB.

In 1963 the family returned to Kearney, where he resumed his practice with Dr. Staley. He continued practicing Family Medicine as a member of The American and Nebraska Academies of Family Physicians. He was named Nebraska Family Physician of the Year in 1997. John retired from full time practice in 1997 and left his treasured patients to the excellent care of his fellow doctors at Family Practice Associates, which he founded. Gilbert Rude was the first doctor to join this group and it has continued to grow and provide family care to the people of central Nebraska.

After retirement, John and Shirley shared so many travel adventures, family visits, and outreach work through their church, the Red Cross, and mentoring Doctors in a residency training program in Ravenna, Neb. Life changing trips included six months in the state of South Australia working as a family physician at rural clinics. Both John and Shirley made many lifelong friends on that trip and returned to that beautiful country three more times. John was so privileged to accompany his best friend, Dr. David Wiebe, to India to serve the clinic patients in the community where David grew up. All of these experiences affirmed John's desire and need to help and serve others.

John is survived by his wife, Shirley; and his brother, Frank (Lonna); daughter, Jean McCammond Walker (Kim); children, John Walker (Abbey); and their children, Callum, Llewelyn and Vaughn, Katherine Walker Brown (David); their children, Marshall and Miles, Michael Walker; and his children, Ramona and Helen; daughter, Janet Jennings (Bob); their children, Tom Jennings (Kaci); their children, Emerson and Hensley, Dan Jennings (Courtney); their children, Brooklyn and Rowe; daughter, Joan Tritsch (Tom); their children, Megan Tritsch, Matt Tritsch (Jeanette); their children, Olsen and Colette, Michael Tritsch (Tiffani); their daughter, Townes; daughter-in-law, Kate Thayer McCammond; and son, John.

John was preceded in death by son, James A. McCammond; sister, Margaret Miller; and great-grandson, Cy Walker.

Horner Lieske McBride & Kuhl Funeral and Cremation Services

2421 Ave. A

Kearney, NE 68847

308-237-2259