Dr. John Richard Stephenson

John Richard “Dick” Stephenson, M.D., of Columbus, Georgia, passed away on March 14, 2025, at the age of 82.

A funeral mass will be held 11:00 AM Saturday, March 29, 2025, at St. Anne Catholic Church. The family will receive friends at 5:30 PM, Friday, March 28, 2025 followed by a rosary at 6:30 PM. at McMullen Funeral Home and Crematory, 3874 Gentian Blvd. Columbus, GA 31907. Interment will be held at Parkhill Cemetery following the service.

Dr. Stephenson was born on October 2, 1942, in Baltimore, MD, the son of the late James Robert “Rodley” Stephenson and Margaret “Peggy” Marion Sczruba. Due to family circumstances, he was raised by his beloved aunt and physician, Dr. Evelyn Stephenson, in Rome, Georgia. Dick graduated from Darlington School, where he excelled in both academics and sports, receiving varsity letters in football, baseball, and soccer, and was awarded the Most Scholastic Athlete award at graduation.

After high school, Dick attended Sewanee, The University of the South, where he was a member and treasurer of the Kappa Alpha Order and earned a BA in Mathematics in 1964. He then began his lifelong journey and dedication to medicine at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, graduating in June 1969. He completed his internal medicine internship the following year at John Gaston Hospital in Memphis, TN, where he met and fell in love with his late wife of 52 years, Claudia Vernice Calvin. Dick then served as a General Medical Officer in the United States Army from 1970 to 1972 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. After his time in the Army, he was accepted into the prestigious Campbell Clinic Orthopaedics residency program in Memphis, TN, completing it in 1976.

In 1976, Dick moved to Columbus, Georgia, where he began his orthopedic surgery practice, serving the community until his retirement in March 2020. During his distinguished 44-year career, he served multiple terms as Chief of Orthopedic Surgery at St. Francis Hospital and as Clinical Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics for Tulane University Medical School. He was also President of the Georgia Orthopaedic Society and was involved in many other professional medical societies throughout his career, including the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the Campbell Club, the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society, and the Orthopaedic Trauma Association. He was a published author in several peer-reviewed journals and remained active in research throughout his career. Above all, he loved taking care of his patients and helping them get better, no matter the time or the day.

A devout Catholic, Dick was a parishioner of St. Anne Catholic Church, where he was known for sitting in the same seat at the back of the church every Sunday morning for the 8:00 AM mass. In his spare time, Dick enjoyed playing golf, tennis, duck and quail hunting, and training and breeding English Setters. You rarely saw him without a bird dog by his side. However, his passion was the game of golf. If he wasn’t at St. Francis Hospital or at home, you most likely could find him somewhere on the golf course at the Columbus Country Club, where a bench has been placed in his honor.

He leaves this wisdom with his family: "You have to work hard and apply yourself in school and in life, making sure to work up to your potential. Be honest, be kind, and treat people the way you’d like to be treated."

Dick’s life will forever be cherished and remembered by his many patients, colleagues, students, and children: Dr. Altee (Dr. Scott) Johnson, both of Columbus, GA; John R. Jr. (Jalise) Stephenson of Cumming, GA; and eight grandchildren: Madeleine, Sidney, Abby Grace, Harper, Sterling, Tripp, Cruz, and Journey. He is also survived by his brother, Sidney L. Jones of Hanover, PA, and his family.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to St. Anne Outreach or to the charity of your choice.