DukeMed Alumni News
Summer 2006 Issue:

Obituaries

Robert Monroe Campbell, MD'43;
Donald E. McCollum, MD, HS'56-'62;
Joseph M. Still, Jr., MD, HS'70-'73;
Antone Walter Tannehill, Jr., MD'54, DC

Robert Monroe Campbell, MD'43, died Dec. 25, 2005 at his home in hesapeake, Va. A native of Neosho, Mo., Campbell graduated from Neosho High School and entered Central College in Fayette, Mo., where he was chosen All-Conference quarterback for two consecutive years. He graduated in December 1943 from Duke University School of Medicine and immediately entered the U.S. Navy Medical Corps and completed his internship at the Chelsea Naval Hospital in Boston, Mass. He subsequently served active sea duty for the remainder of World War II. During the Korean War he took a surgical team overseas to care for the wounded and later served aboard the Hospital Ship Haven for a year. He completed post-graduate surgical residency at Baylor University, Los Angeles County Hospital and at the Leahy and Overholt Thoracic Clinics in Boston. He retired from the Navy in 1955 and entered private practice for surgery. He was a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and president of the Portsmouth Academy of Medicine. He was active in his community in various organizations. He is survived by his wife Donna and daughters Kristina and Cynthia; three step-children; seven grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and two brothers.

Donald E. McCollum, MD, HS'56-'62, died March 29, 2006, at Duke University Medical Center. A Winton-Salem, N.C., native, McCollum earned a bachelor's degree in medical science from Wake Forest College in 1949. He received his medical degree from Bowman-Gray School of Medicine 1953. After completing an internship at the University of Virginia Hospital , he served two years active duty as a medic in the U.S. Air Force at Andrews Air Force Base in Washington, D.C. McCollum came to Duke as a resident in surgical training in 1956 and completed one year of surgical specialty training prior to beginning orthopedic training. He also spent a year in pediatric orthopedic training at the N.C. Orthopedic Hospital in Gastonia, N.C. He was an assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at Duke in 1962. He was promoted to associate professor in 1967 and then professor in 1971. McCollum was active in many professional organizations, ncluding the American Orthopedic Association and the Hip Society, where he served as president in 1989. Although he won numerous honors and has been recognized for his significant contributions to advances and research in arthritis and hip surgery, his dedication to the education of medical students is cited as one of his greatest contributions to Duke. In 1998 he was named professor emeritus of orthopedic surgery after 41 years of service to Duke. After his retirement he served as a consultant at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Durham. McCollum is survived by his daughter, Carolyn McCollum Grissom; sister, Julia Ann Tommerdahl; sister-in-law, Betty Lou McCollum; and three grandchildren. His wife Edna Wilkerson McCollum died on April 12, 2006.

Joseph M. Still, Jr., MD, HS'70-'73, died on February 1, 2006, of heart failure. He was 67. A ground-breaking plastic and wound surgeon, he dedicated his professional life to improving the treatment of burn patients. Still founded the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta, Ga. With the help of Doctors Hospital, he formed the burn unit in 1978 with only one bed. Since then, the burn center has expanded to 58 beds and accepts burn patients from across the Southeast. He also was the driving force in establishing the Southeastern Firefighters' Burn Foundation, a nonprofit organization t hat helps burn patients and their families deal with nonmedical issues. The foundation operates the Shirley Badke Retreat, which is a place for people to stay while their family members are in the burn center. Over the years Still helped finance many of his patients' college educations. A Charlotte , N.C. , native, Still attended Shorter College in Rome, Ga., where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology and chemistry. From there he attended the Medical College of Georgia, earning his medical degree in 1965, and completed his residencies at Duke. His medical training included residencies and fellowships in general surgery, plastic surgery, and hand surgery. He was board certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Plastic Surgery. He authored a number of medical articles published throughout the United States and internationally. Still is survived by his wife Sue, 10 children and 18 grandchildren.

Antone Walter Tannehill, Jr., MD'54, DC, died April 3, 2006 at the age of 76, at the North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo, after an extended illness. He attended Vanderbilt University as an undergraduate and graduated from Duke University School of Medicine in 1954. Following an internship at the Medical College of Virginia Hospital in Richmond, Va., he served two years as a medical officer in the U.S. Air Force. In 1964 he moved to New Orleans, La., for a residency in internal medicine; in 1967 he moved to Tupelo and formed a partnership with Dr. F.L. Lummus; in 1976 the Lummus/Tannehill practice merged with that of Drs. Joe Bailey, Eugene Murphey, and Bill Woods to form Internal Medicine Associates, from which he retired in 1997. He served on many medical mission trips to Central America , Romania, and Cameroon, Africa . He helped to establish the respiratory therapy program at Itawamba Community College in Tupelo and served as medical director from its beginning in 1975 until 1987. He was active in various civic groups. Among his many awards and recognitions were the Laureate Award from the American College of Physicians , and the Tupelo Junior Auxiliary Outstanding Citizen Award. He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Diane, WC'53; three sons; three grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.