Paul Gwyn M.D.

1935 - 2025

Paul Gwyn, M.D.

May 31, 1935 - Oct 13, 2025

Paul Perkins Gwyn, Jr., M.D., 90, died the day after his 62nd wedding anniversary at Arbor Acres in Winston-Salem. He is predeceased by his parents, Paul Perkins Gwyn and Alice Kelly Harris; and older brother, Owen Gwyn.

Paul was a small-town boy from the foothills of North Carolina who turned his brains, hard work, humble beginnings, and endless curiosity into a remarkable curriculum vitae that led to a most remarkable life. He lived a life of service, loving fatherhood, an incredible marriage, worldly travel, and life-long relationships with like-minded people who could keep up with his ridiculous intellect and incredible dry wit and humor.

Growing up with regular readings of the 'Harvard Classics' in his home den in Elkin, it's no wonder where his mind was able to take him. He wanted to be smart and informed with no nonsense. When Paul's dad passed away when he was seven, the $19 per month in social security benefits opened up a world far beyond anything he had ever known when he enrolled in Woodberry Forest. Following that, his mother's continued business success and a scholarship gift from Chatham Manufacturing allowed him to attend Princeton University, where he earned an academic scholarship to Columbia University medical school. While powerhouse Ivy's Princeton and Columbia exposed him to the world's academic elite, Duke University gave him the love of his life, his nurse forever, Ms. Nancy Hooper from the Elkin of the East. It was destiny.

Throughout his storied academic journey, Dr. Gwyn earned over 15 honors from some of America's most prestigious institutions including Princeton, Columbia and Duke Universities, The American Board of Surgery, American College of Surgeons, The American Board of Plastic Surgery, The American Society of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeons, the Southeastern Society of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeons, Norfolk General Hospital, and Bowman Gray School of Medicine.

Toward the end of his medical school tenure, Dr. Gwyn's first act was an international aid trip to Liberia to perform life-changing surgeries for children with cleft lip and cleft palate deformities. This early charity work led to Dr. Gwyn playing a vital role during the founding of Physicians for Peace in the early 80s, and that passion to give back via international aid led him, Nancy, and Marya to Syria in the 90s to teach young Syrian medical students and perform surgeries on patients impacted by war and other deformities.

Settling in Winston-Salem with Nancy, Dr. Gwyn founded Forsyth Plastic Surgery Center in 1970, with the practice becoming Winston-Salem's foundational reconstruction and cosmetic surgery center.

Paul's love for music began while in med school at Columbia, where he took the subway from Upper West Side, NY, to Sam Ashe Music in Brooklyn to purchase his first guitar. Anytime he wasn't studying, you could find Paul in Greenwich Village buying 'song books' and listening to live performers in Washington Park. For 50 years, he was a constant member of the Bass section of his church choir. He played that guitar every week, loving the Spanish Flamenco and folk music best.

Rivaling Dr. Gwyn's passion for medicine and serving people was his thirst for culture. That cultural spirit was fulfilled through his and Nancy's involvement with and support of the North Carolina School of the Arts, the Giannini Society, Piedmont Opera, Winston-Salem Foundation, PBS NC, NPR, Centenary Church, Ardmore UMC, Winston-Salem Symphony, Woodberry Forest, and Princeton, Columbia, and Duke Universities.

For adventure, each summer the Gwyn family would head out west and beyond for an extended vacation, white water rafting, hiking, visiting dude ranches, and generally seeing a world far away from North Carolina. Those experiences set a great foundation for his children that is more appreciated with each day.

He and Nancy have traveled to all four corners of the world, visiting the Galapagos, Croatia, Mongolia, Patagonia, Russia, Hungary, Kenya, Turkey, and India, among others. His tradition of taking all six of his grandkids anywhere in the world at 13 years old was the greatest gift a grandparent could give. And boy, did those kids go big with trips to Japan, Paris, Italy, Greece, Hungary, and Austria. Through these worldly travels and with his ever-present Nikon, Paul became a photojournalist whom National Geographic would envy.

He is survived by the greatest love of his life, Nancy; their three children, David (Lisa), Kelly Diamond (Jeff), and Marya Upchurch (Charles); his grandchildren, Julia, Aydlett, Brian, Harris, David, and Will; as well as Owen's children, Owen Jr and John Gwyn.

A celebration of Paul's life will be held on October 24th at 4 p.m. at Ardmore United Methodist Church, located at 630 S Hawthorne Rd. The family will receive friends at 5:30 p.m. at Forsyth Country Club. A graveside burial service will take place on October 25th at 11 a.m. at Elkin's Hollywood Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the NC School of the Arts at uncsa.edu and/or the Piedmont Opera at piedmontopera.org.

Salem Funeral & Cremation Service

2951 Reynolda Rd., Winston-Salem, NC 27106