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Jim McGreevy Obituary
On the morning of January 29th, 2019, Jim McGreevy passed after a three-year battle with pancreatic cancer. As with many things in his life, he beat the odds in his illness, but to his family those years vanished far too quickly. He passed at home in the presence and embrace of his two daughters.
A general surgeon and a native of Pittsburgh, Jim moved to Salt Lake City in 1981 when he accepted a position as Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Utah. In 1983, he became the Program Director of the University of Utah General Surgery Residency Program, and he later served as the Chief of Surgery at the Veteran's Administration Medical Center. In addition, he was a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force and commander of the 419th Medical Squadron at Hill Air Force Base and he deployed three times to the Middle East. He was equally passionate about surgery, teaching, and flying, and he devoted himself wholeheartedly to these pursuits.
Jim was an inspired, spirited man who chased every dream and never wasted a single moment. He was a wild adventurer, a captivating storyteller, and a devoted father. He encouraged others to recognize beauty in the mundane, to value relationships above all else, and to savor every moment of joy in this transitory life. He will be sorely missed by all those he touched with his infectious elan.
A Celebration of Life will be held on February 23rd, 2019, at 11AM in the Orangerie room at Red Butte Gardens. All are welcome. To honor his dedication to surgical education, a memorial fund has been established at the University of Utah School of Medicine, to be known as The James M. McGreevy, MD Memorial Fund for the General Surgery Residency. In lieu of flowers, please direct any donations to the fund. Donations of support may be made by calling the University's Development Office at 801-581-3720, or else may be addressed to: Division of General Surgery; Attn: Lawrence Mauck; 30 North 1900 East, 3B110; Salt Lake City, Utah 84132. Please share a favorite memory of Jim with his family at: [email protected].
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Derrick Jensen
November 15, 2024
In 1985, Dr McGreevy saved my life. I was dying from Crohn's disease, and he performed emergency surgery in the middle of the night. It wasn't just the surgery, though. He supervised my case from when I got to the hospital, and prior to that had spoken with my mom multiple times when I was being maltreated at a hospital in rural Nevada, and arranged for me to be able to go to the hospital in Salt Lake. He was always kind and gentle. One incident stands out. When most doctors would examine my behind, as happens often in Crohn's, they would hand me tissues to clean up. But Dr. McGreevy cleaned me himself, though he was in charge of everything. Also, I had no money, and the hospital and other doctors tried to charge me, and when I told Dr. McGreevy I had no money and no insurance, he responded, "I thought I was clear from the beginning that I'm not going to charge you." Truly a magnificent doctor.
Louis V. Lucarelli
June 3, 2024
In my late teens and early 20´s I would be driving through Carrick and Jim would be hitchhiking, and I would pick him up. I went through 8 years of Catholic school with Jim. He was one of the smartest guys in the school. I knew he was destine for greatness. I lost contact with him shortly after the early 70´s. I happened to play a luncheon and one of the ladies there also went to grade school with me, and she told me Jim had passed away. I loved the guy. I told my wife about him and that he was gone. I had to go out and find him. So sorry for your loss.
Jared Walker
April 1, 2023
He was good to me in the 419th FW Medical Squadron... a smart and wise man who cared about people.
Bill Minderman
January 29, 2023
Thinking of Jim today. A great friend when we both were very young and in the Seminary together!
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Bill Minderman
February 3, 2022
Still think of Jim often. Was an important friend in my life. I hope his daughters and their families are doing well.
Yvonne woods
September 23, 2021
I believe this may be the Jim McGreevy I met as a young woman in Pittsburgh who was friends with my fiancé. He was a funny caring person. I somehow came across this today. Whether it was him or not, I am sure your family misses him. One another
Jennie oshea
May 30, 2020
Jim,
Its your birthday today. I wonder what you would think about the state of the country and the world right now. Its something that no one would have predicted.
Last week, I was fortunate that I was able to visit your college, St. Johns in Minnesota. Beautiful!
I love you, I miss you, Jen
Jim was a "leader" even in his teens! From St. Meinrad, 1963
Bill Minderman
February 3, 2020
A picture of Jim & I when we were close friends at St. Meinrad Seminary in 1962-63.
Bill Minderman
February 3, 2020
A picture in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel in Memphis when Jim visited in 2010. We stayed in touch for over 50 years!
Bill Minderman
February 3, 2020
J MM
October 23, 2019
I miss you so much
October 23, 2019
Boyfriend,
You were my best friend.
Your internal drive, your love of learning, your accomplishments (in medicine and in the Air Force) are unparalleled.
I miss you every day, and I try to honor your memory each day.
I love you, JMM
In loving memory on the date of your birth
J MM
May 30, 2019
Rebecca Simpson
April 27, 2019
I met Jim during Desert Storm. He deployed with our Unit the 419 TFW at Hill AFB. He was a kind and great man. I learned a lot from him. He carved a space in my life and heart.
William Minderman
April 12, 2019
To Jim's daughters---As a close friend of Jim at his time in high school at St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana, I am very sad to just now be learning of his passing. Even though it had been nearly 50 years since we were together then, I maintained some contact with Jim over the years... once seeing him at a reunion at St.M... I believe our 25th... then making contact with him about 7 years ago when he fly to Memphis to join me for an trip back to St.M and spending time with another old classmate who had become a Priest (Monk)... Fr. Jeremy King. That was followed a year or so later when my wife and I came to Utah, stayed with him at his home and had a GREAT visit. Jim was truly an exceptional guy! Reading his obituary clearly shows that. Although our physical separation made it hard to keep in touch regularly, I will always remember him as one of my best friends in my life. See the attached picture of Jim & I at St. Meinrad. Bill Minderman, [email protected].
Robert ratcliff
April 3, 2019
As a medical student I chose general surgery as a profession in large part due to the influence of Dr. McGreevey. He was an outstanding example of what a true surgeon should be.
April 1, 2019
This is so very sad to hear about today. I called the Huntsman Cancer Inst. and asked to make an apt. with him. I heard he had passed away.
Fifteen years ago he did a bilateral mastectomy for me. He was the most kind, positive, and uplifting surgeon I could have ever asked for. Rest in peace Dr. McGreevy! Patti Johnson
April 1, 2019
This is so very sad to me. Fifteen years ago he performed a bilateral mastectomy on me. He was the most positive, uplifting, and kind Doctor I could have ever asked for. May you rest in peace Dr. McGreevy! Patti Johnson
Donna Flynn
March 25, 2019
Jim and I grew up a little together during our college years in Pittsburgh
We were young and silly and both eager to learn about life
Although we went our separate ways many years ago, I have often thought about him and wondered where life had taken him. I came upon his obituary and felt so sad.
I am sure his girls have much support and volumes of wonderful memories of their years together.
JM M
March 15, 2019
JMM,
You rocked my world. I miss you more and more each day.
I just signed up to run the Wahsatch Steeplechase in memory of you. It's an ambitious undertaking, but you ran it many times with your residents and we hiked it together frequently. I love, I miss you, and I will honor you at each and every opportunity
Randall Lester
March 11, 2019
So sad to here of Jim's passing. We were surgical residents together at the University of Pittsburgh. He was 3 years ahead of me in training. He was head working and an excellent surgeon. I admired, especially, his work effort in response to the patient s need and I believe I patterned part of my later practice after him. My best to the family; he will certainly be missed especially by his patients and their families.
March 8, 2019
Lauren and Katie,
My wife, Marsha and I first met your parents when they were still together. We had an immediate connection with both of them and we remained friends over the years. Years later, when your father joined our staff as Chief of Surgery at the VA Medical Center, we reunited and shared all kinds of stories and similar interests. I admired him for his passion, empathy and standards of excellence. The presentations he gave to our staff on his surgical exploits while deployed to the Middle East were fascinating. We track skied together at Round Valley and compared notes when we were both diagnosed with prostate cancer. The last time I saw him was on the Bowman Fork Trail in Millcreek Canyon. He suggested that we get together for a beer and go skiing again. Unfortunately, years passed and that opportunity was never fulfilled. I had no idea he was sick and I'm very sorry we never saw each other again. He was truly an extraordinary man of many talents and beautiful qualities. What a loss to humanity.
SFC Ronald Moore (USA Ret)
March 7, 2019
Dr. McGreevy stood in the ER and applied pressure to my mothers sintered liver for 2 hours and saved her life. She was hit by a drunk driver fleeing police. Dr. McGreevy saved her dear life and has given us 25 more happy years with her (so far). He will remain in our prayers and thoughts for the rest of our lives. There is a special place in heaven for men like Jim.
March 4, 2019
There's a nickel on the grass for you. Zman and Jen
J MM
March 1, 2019
I love you, I miss you
Sharon Weinstein
February 23, 2019
It was a great honor and privilege to work with Jim, Dr. James McGreevy, at U of U and at the VASLC. I most admired Jim for his uncompromising standards and appreciated his generous warm smile. We who had the good fortune to know him were made better for it.
My heart goes out to his family, especially Lauren and Katie, and his close friends at this time.
With deepest condolences,
Sharon M Weinstein MD
Salt Lake City
Shabnam Gill
February 22, 2019
Thank you for saving my life and treating my breast cancer. I will be forever grateful to
you.
Philip Kladar
February 20, 2019
As an intern in surgery in 1992, Dr McGreevy represented the most visible and at times intimidating authority figure guiding our development. However, with time and maturity, the relationship transformed into mutual respect and support. I always felt that he had my best interest at heart. His passing is received with great sadness but I know that with his life, he made his residents better people and better surgeons. His presence then ripples through the thousands of patient encounters and surgeries performed by those he trained. I am grateful that I trained with him.
Laura Lasco
February 14, 2019
This beautiful man saved my life 30 years ago. Although I never saw him again after the surgery, Dr. McGreevy was a constant in my heart and thoughts through the years.
To his daughters, you were lucky have him in your lives as a Dad and friend. He was the best of men.
Laura Lasco
Stephen Morris
February 14, 2019
Jim, this is to you, a man I feared and respected and learned to love for your uncompromising honesty, unflinching demands of excellence and unbridled curiosity about the universe. You now have a perspective we all yearn for, but that has always been the case with me. I saw you as the consummate surgeon dealing with an exsanguinating patient from Price on your first night of call as an attending, the listening mentor guiding a struggling resident one-on-one or the remarkable piano student launching into yet another skill amongst your dozens.
We're still running, in an effort to catch up to you, but as always, lagging rather behind. May I some day get a chance to pick your brain again about a number of things as I have on so many occasions. Thank you for forging that path with your keen intellect, your fine heart and your large persona, that path so so many of us tread.
February 14, 2019
I was very sadden to learn of Dr. McGreevy's passing. He was an amazing Dr. I had many conversations with him regarding patients and he was the ultimate surgeon who was very compassionate with all of his patients. I would love when he would come in for Saturday rounds in his flight suit and he was very proud of it and rightly so. He cared deeply about his daughters as he talked about them often. A kind gentle man and a wonderful physician that I will never forget. Donna Thomas RN
Joan Bessey
February 13, 2019
Dr. McGreevy. Such a strong presence in the operating room. Fine skilled hands and a perfectionist. He invited everyone to provide the finest care to each and every patient.
His intensity and drive were something to behold. He applied these characteristics in all aspects of life. Living, loving, excelling, biking, flying.
Tonight I listened outside while a jet flew over head at break speed. Flying towards the west, the direction of leaving. And I could almost see him waving and smiling a peaceful so long. God speed Dr. McGreevy. You had such influence on so many learners and individuals. Your life was lived to its fullest.
Erich Graf
February 10, 2019
I became Jim's next door neighbor at Governor's Square when I moved to Utah to join the Utah Symphony in 1976. We instantly became friends and that friendship has been lifelong. We had lots of laughs in those cracker-box apartments. Although he was an early-to-bed and early to rise person, he braved my somewhat Bohemian lifestyle of late night flute practice and culinary efforts with ultimate acceptance and humor. I recall one night when I realized that he must have listened to me practice an orchestra part at least 400 times between 9-11 PM. We recounted this with laughs for many years. We didn't see each other regularly, but we did keep in touch. We witnessed events in each other's lives. I learned that Jim had friends from many different disciplines and was totally non-judgmental. He also had enormous intellectual curiosity. To me, he was a philosopher as well as an MD. Over the years, our chats had a calming effect on me. He also had a love of music. Whenever the symphony was scheduled to play his favorite piece, Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz, I always called him in advance to let him know that it was scheduled. Whatever he did in life, whether it was flying an F-16, building an addition to his house or a plethora of other things, he did them with genuine enthusiasm and glee. He was a true Renaissance man, and I will miss him profoundly.
Irene Maxell
February 10, 2019
I knew Jim for many years, first as a work colleague, then we developed a special friendship. I loved listening to him talk, he always had so many stories to share. His favorite subjects were his daughters Katie and Lauren. He was such a proud, devoted, loving father. You girls were the light, soul and loves of his life. Your father changed my life in a significant way, but take comfort in knowing that your father helped so many people. He cared so much about his patients. He lived very large and I am so glad I got a chance to spend the time I did with him. Katie and Lauren I am so very sorry for your loss, your father was an amazing man.
Kathy Waller/bish
February 10, 2019
I am so sad to hear this in my youth him and his girls were like my second family I send my love to them and sorry for their loss
Jean Moore
February 9, 2019
On a cold Nov. night. in 1996 I was in an accident caused by a drunk driver leaving me in critical condition. on my way home from work as a Reg.nurse at Ask-A-Nurse. By some merciful fate I was taken to UUMC ER. where the amazing MD Jim Mcgreevy was on Trauma Call. Over the next few days I was taken to surgery four times to repair the 40 % of my remaining liver. That skillful surgeon was able to salvage my life and equally skillful orthopedic surgeon salvaged my bilat compound fractured legs. (finally 21 surgeries and over 100 units of blood, weeks on the ventilator, I am alive and very well!!) Early on when I learned of his diagnosis I had several occasions to correspond/visit him. Since that time I prayed every day for his survival knowing full well that would be difficult. I did tell him that even if the whole world turned to hate him, not to worry because I would Love Him FOREVER!! (and I do) He was truly an exceptional gentleman and surgeon.
Richelle Gaiter
February 9, 2019
Truly a brilliant and beautiful soul. I would listen to him speak and was always so in awe and fascinated when he would teach, or share some of his thoughts with us. I so very much respected this incredible man. He was also a father like figure to many of us. Was very proud to know him as my Commander, mentor and friend! I will never forget you and will love you forever, RIP
Kristina Ketchel
February 9, 2019
I'll never forget my Uncle Jim ...but my favorite memory is when I visited him in Utah and he took me out to eat he was super excited over the huge Nacho platter we got to share!! He was infectious with his grin smile and laugh!! We also shared a wonderful day at Snowbird and coincidentally February 23 I'll be enjoying the day at a ski resort in Pennsylvania?! I know In my heart my Uncle will be around . No words could EVER explain how wonderful of a man he was. This world is MUCH smaller with out him.
Marsha Cox
February 8, 2019
I knew Doc McGreevy through my significant other, Eric Christensen from the 419th Fighter Wing.I only met him a couple of times but he was the kindest, most generous person. He offered to help me get into nursing school even though he didn't know me that well. His kind heart and infectious smile will live in my memory forever.
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