Stephen Hubert Homer

1936 - 2024

Stephen Hubert Homer

December 26, 1936 - October 15, 2024

Stephen H. Homer, 87, of Kernersville, NC, passed away suddenly while retrieving a ball for some children on Tuesday, October 15, 2024. He was born December 26, 1936, in Philadelphia, PA to Dr. Benjamin David and Sylvia Homer.

Stephen graduated second in his class from Central High School of Philadelphia, Phi Beta Kappa in chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania, and President of AOA from the University of Pennsylvania College of Medicine. He had a rotating internship and one year of Internal Medicine residency at Penn before deciding to become a surgeon. He completed his residency in orthopedics at New York Hospital for Special Surgery, where he was chief resident.

Stephen accepted an invitation to teach at Bowman Gray School of Medicine, thinking he was being invited to Chapel Hill, and then chose to stay in the Winston-Salem area for the rest of his life, notwithstanding invitations to teach surgery at UCLA and Stanford University.

Although asthmatic and not himself athletic, Stephen loved being team physician, for Wake Forest University during the seventies, and for Winston-Salem State University during the eighties. He was appreciated by injured players for refusing to numb them or tape them and send them back into the game at the risk of future permanent injury.

Stephen retired from medicine in the late eighties, and spent the next thirty-five years in real estate management and investment, mostly as general partner of All-South Management, which built, owned, and managed apartment properties in Winston-Salem and Kernersville. The apartments were known for vetting renters of mostly modest means, then creating a family atmosphere in a well-maintained environment.

As Stephen matured, his heart opened up to animals, whom he recognized as sentient and emotional beings. They gave him much comfort, and taught him to look even more for the love in people.

Stephen was preceded in death by his former wife, Judith, with whom he remained friends until her death. He is survived by his brother, Mark Homer, of Townsend, TN.

Stephen has been cremated. His ashes will be buried in his parents' grave at Har Zion Cemetery in Philadelphia, PA.

A Memorial Service will be held on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. at Pierce-Jefferson Funeral and Cremation Services, at 213 W. Mountain Street, Kernersville, NC. A biography and appreciation will be offered by his brother, Mark, and those desiring will be invited to offer their remembrances.