Dr. John Owsley

Dr. John Quincy Owsley

October 2, 1928 – November 3, 2014

Dr. John Quincy Owsley, a renowned plastic surgeon, whose pioneering and innovative techniques were devoted to correcting the facial and speech defects of cleft lip and palate children, died on Monday, November 3, 2014, after a long illness. Dr. Owsley was equally renowned for restoring youthful vitality to the faces of the famous and not so famous, and he saw the potential for symmetry and harmony in each of his patients. He often said: "I don't create beauty, but merely reveal it."

His long career encompassed all aspects of general and reconstructive surgery. Dr. Owsley was Professor Emeritus, at the University of California San Francisco and the author of hundreds of Scientific Journal articles, as well as an authoritative textbook expanding on the intricacies of facial anatomy and the effective methods of achieving surgical correction.

Fascinated by medicine from an early age, Dr. Owsley followed in the footsteps of his father, a naval admiral and Deputy Surgeon General of the Navy, and his grandfather, by graduating from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, in Nashville, Tennessee. Although Nashville had been the family home for several generations, Dr. Owsley relished the opportunity to complete his medical residency at the University of California San Francisco, where he found his calling. "I will never forget seeing the joy in both the patient and the surgeon, when my professor invited me to witness the plastic surgical result on a young woman." From that moment on he was devoted to plastic and reconstructive surgery.

Owsley's early work focused on cleft lip and palate children, and in collaboration with UCSF speech therapists, he developed widely adopted advancements in surgical procedures. His efforts to address both a child's speech and the psychological pain of a facial deformity, resulted in his recognition as the President of the American Cleft Palate Association.


In the late seventies, plastic surgery was no longer considered the exclusive provenance of the rich and famous, as baby boomers strove to remain competitive and maintain a youthful appearance to match their energy and intellectual engagement. Dr. Owsley embraced this social phenomenon and redirected his expertise to the area of aesthetic surgery.

However, he was dissatisfied with the standard surgical techniques of the day which often produced an artificial appearance. Determined to find a better approach, Dr. Owsley devoted hours to research and clinical work with the goal of developing a more natural-looking and longer-lasting outcome. His efforts produced innovative surgical techniques, such as the SMAS-PLASTYSMA procedure, which remains to this day the standard of practice for plastic surgeons.

His results earned him world-wide recognition, and his mission was to share his knowledge and technique with colleagues. His annual UCSF Aesthetic Surgery Symposium drew surgeons from around the world. And his operating room was always open to surgeons wishing to observe his procedures first hand. What they observed is best described by one of Dr. Owsley's surgical assistants: "He was elegant in the performance of each procedure. His hands moved with precision and certainty. To watch him operate was like watching a ballet. His surgical team knew their role, and synchronized their actions. Never looking at the clock, he would proceed with meticulous attention to each detail. Whatever surgical procedure he was undertaking would not be complete until he was satisfied that it was as perfect as could be achieved."

Dr. Owsley lived a long life filled with high intention. Although his two most compelling interests were medicine and his wife Sharon, Dr. Owsley had deep ties to the community. For years he held an annual lunch featuring notable speakers from the world of business, politics, entertainment, the courts, and the arts. He enjoyed his Bohemian and Pacific Union Club friends, his bridge partners, sail boat racing and duck hunting.
He will be profoundly missed by his devoted wife, Sharon, his loving daughter Sara Owsley Dooley, a son Jake Owsley, his close brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Joseph and Diane Anton, an adored niece, nephew and nine grandchildren. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations to the UCSF Department of Plastic Surgery or Grace Cathedral.

A memorial service will be held at Grace Cathedral on Tuesday, November 11, 2014, at 3:30 pm.