John William Hammon

1942 - 2022

Hammon, Dr. John William, Jr.

March 9, 1942 - October 21, 2022

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of John William Hammon, Jr., M.D. Friday, October 21, 2022. It is with great joy that we celebrate his life. He was born in Springfield, Missouri, on March 9, 1942, to Mary Ellen (Likens) and Dr. John W. Hammon, and there he spent his childhood among friends and family, enjoying the benefits of having the only home in town with a swimming pool. John was an athlete lettering in multiple sports, both in high school and college, including football, baseball, basketball, track and golf, and played enthusiastically on many championship teams. John attended Drury College (University) in his hometown of Springfield, graduating in 1964 with a degree in chemistry. He attended Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans and received his M.D. degree in 1968. He began his surgical residency at Duke University, followed by 2 years of military service as lieutenant commander and director of the tissue bank at the U.S. Naval Hospital in San Diego. He later returned to Duke to complete his general surgery and thoracic surgery residencies, finishing in 1978. John served as chief resident his final year of training, followed by a year as National Institutes of Health Scholar in Academic Medicine at Duke. He was recognized as a superb teacher of younger residents, which fostered lifelong friendships with colleagues who went on to be leaders in the specialty of cardiac and thoracic surgery across the country. He embedded in his residents the importance of data in clinical decision-making for patients, as well as the rigor necessary to create those data. John began his career in cardiac and thoracic surgery at Vanderbilt University in Nashville in July 1978 as an assistant professor in the Department of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery where he was an active surgeon and a dedicated clinical scientist with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the American Heart Association, and industry funding. He advanced rapidly up the academic ladder, becoming a full professor as a versatile adult and congenital cardiothoracic surgeon and a notable basic science researcher.

John was recruited to lead the Wake Forest Health Sciences Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery in 1991. There he continued to pursue his clinical interests in cardiac surgery and his research interests in neuroprotection during cardiac surgery. Recognizing the evolving field of translational research, he was instrumental in procuring on behalf of Wake Forest Medical Center a multimillion-dollar federal grant to identify methods of reducing post-operative complications of open-heart surgery and served as its principal investigator during his tenure. He was a proficient author, publishing over 175 articles and book chapters in peer-reviewed medical literature, and served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Surgical Research and the Annals of Thoracic Surgery, among other journals. Moreover, he advanced the training programs in thoracic surgery and medical student education. John was the recipient of many awards during his long career, including Lifetime Achievement awards from both Drury University in 1989 and Tulane University in 2018.

John held memberships in the Southern Thoracic Surgical Association, the American College of Surgeons, American Association of Thoracic Surgery, Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the Sabiston Society, and the Halsted Society. He was honored by the North Carolina Surgical Society and by Southern Thoracic Surgical Association with presidencies in 2007 and 2008, respectively. After retirement, John became an emeritus faculty member with the Wake Forest University School of Medicine and remained academically active. In his later professional years, he mentored many medical students and residents and helped open doors for their careers, as others had done for him. John's keen intellect and broad interests created life-long friendships with many colleagues around the country.

John was a storied man, very accomplished, very giving to so many. One of his passions was singing. He faithfully contributed his baritone voice in the choir of St. Paul's Episcopal Church and as a member of the Winston-Salem Symphony Chorus. He loved classical music and was an opera buff, an avid golfer, a competitive tennis player, and an accomplished pilot. He loved to ride to the hounds on his treasured horse Philharmonica (Philly) as a member of hunt clubs in Tennessee and North Carolina, and enthusiastically participated in cattle roundups at his brother-in-law's ranch in Utah. A master fly fisherman, John and Lisa enjoyed many peaceful hours fishing in wild rivers surrounded by the peace and solitude of nature. Playing a vigorous game of basketball with his three sons and later with his grandsons was a favorite and cherished endeavor. And he learned to love fostering and caring for rescued kittens and puppies, which so frequently and inexplicably found their way into his home.

John is survived by his beloved wife of 24 years, Mary Lisa Hammon, his sons Ian and wife Emilie, of Greensboro, Dudley and wife Jennifer, of Winston-Salem, and Daniel and his partner Stina Sieg, of the Western Slope of Colorado, his beloved grandsons, Gabriel Hammon and Logan Hammon, and his sister the Reverend Julie March of Springfield, Missouri. A memorial service will be held on Friday, November 11, at 11 a.m. at St Pauls's Episcopal Church, with a reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made in John's honor to the Winston-Salem Symphony (online at www.wssymphony.org), the Cornwall Music Fund, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 520 Summit Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, or the Henry's Fork River Foundation, P.O. Box 550, Ashton, ID 83420 (hff@henrysfork.org).

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