John Aubrey Feagin

West Point, 1955

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by West Point 1955 on February 1, 2020:

John Feagin Feagin, 85, lived a life of service to country, community A celebration of life for Teton Village resident Dr. John A. Feagin Jr. is scheduled for 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Sept. 18 at the Calico Restaurant and Bar in Wilson. Feagin died peacefully Sept. 1 at his home, amid friends and family. He was 85. His family provided the following. John Autrey Feagin Jr. was born into a military family on May 9, 1934, at Brooke Army Hospital in San Antonio when his father was stationed at Randolph Air Force Base after graduating from West Point. John's mother, Katherine Feagin, was a third-generation Texan. His appreciation and respect of service to country and love of Texas were deeply rooted from his youngest days. He enjoyed the mobile life of an Air Force brat while his father was stationed at Hamilton Air Base in Marin, California, and Tonopah, Nevada, but always connected back to the family home in Texas. He spent summers selling watermelons and ice on the Guadalupe River in Hunt, Texas. John entered West Point in 1951 as one of the youngest in the Class of 1955. While he clearly was headed for a life of service to country and others, he was encouraged to attend the United States Military Academy by his father because of the secured paycheck upon graduation. At West Point he was a Sunday School teacher, member of the NCAA-championship water polo team and class treasurer - and he enjoyed all of it. John was forever proud of his classmates and the lifelong bonds forged at the Academy. His first career dream had been to fly in the Air Force, but, failing the eye exam, he was on to active duty service with the 82nd Airborne, Fort Bragg and two years of "soldiering." John was granted a "leave of absence without pay" to attend medical school. He loved the Army and wanted to be a surgeon-soldier. He was among the first three West Point graduates to be granted that permission. He attended medical school at Duke University 1957-61. In Durham, he met Martha Bagley, a Duke undergraduate from Alabama. They married in 1959, and they had the first of three children when Randle was born at the Duke hospital. John then did his internship at Tripler Army Hospital in Hawaii and his orthopaedic residency from 1963-67 at Walter Reed in Washington, D.C. There they had two children, Rob and Nancy. John served in Vietnam in 1966-67 with the 85th Evac in Qui Nhon. He was humbled by his time as a soldier surgeon serving his country. A tour of duty as surgeon and team physician at West Point was followed by a fellowship in hip replacement surgery in England with Sir John Charnley at Wrightington Hospital. When John returned from England the Army sent him to the Presidio at San Francisco and then once more to West Point to be hospital commander. Running a hospital and moving up the chain of command in the Army had its rewards but took time away from his passion of caring for patients. In 1979 he retired from the Army and moved the family to Jackson to begin a private practice, run a medical clinic at the base of the young ski resort and raise a family in a mountain town. He was forever grateful for that decision. The people of Jackson provided a wonderful community to practice medicine and enjoy the life he treasured. He loved attending high school ski races and was proud of being the physician for the Jackson Hole High School 1982 State football championship, with a roster including Brett Bommer, Tom Bartlett and Pete Lawton. To celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary to Martha, the family climbed the Grand Teton with Jack Turner and Herb Swedlund of Exum. He was always grateful for his first partners Drs. Mott, Lambert and Cunningham, as well as the staff he so enjoyed in his practice and at St. John's Hospital. He was always proud of the quality of care they were able to provide in this small mountain town. He often spoke proudly of his association with the Jackson Hole Ski Patrol, enjoying their camaraderie and ever respectful of their professionalism. He enjoyed the climbers, skiers and everyone in the community of that era. Many were great characters and people the family deeply respected. He enjoyed being exposed to the unique brand of Jackson athlete, which would forever impact his practice of medicine. He equally enjoyed the ranchers and making house calls on the cowboys who were eager to get back out on the range. He was also able to continue to develop his career as teacher and mentor as well as surgeon. He brought many fellows and medical colleagues to Jackson. He and his partners were actively involved caring for and traveling with the U.S. Ski Team and working several Olympic Games. He also provided his services to smaller medical clinics in the region. He was able to get his pilot's license during those years and loved flying to rural clinics around the state. He remained full time in Jackson until 1989, but would return often throughout his life and spend his final years there. He cherished the fact that all of his children would remain connected to Jackson to this day. After Jackson, John returned to Duke University to continue his teaching and research career. He joined the orthopaedic faculty at Duke University in the Sports Medicine Division, where he remained until 1999. He was a team physician for Duke University Athletics, reuniting with Coach Mike Krzyzewski, whom he had taken care of when Mike was a basketball player at West Point. While at Duke they won two basketball national championships. It was a special time and he was ever thankful for the opportunity to be surrounded by the excellence of the coaches and players. During his tenure at Duke he embarked on one of his highlight adventures - flying his Cessna 182 in the footsteps of Charles Lindbergh, from North Carolina to Europe. His only regret was that he could not take his trusty copilot Samba, his English sheepdog. Samba had over 5,000 logged copilot hours. After Duke it was off to another mountain town, with more teaching and research at the Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colorado. Along the way John was awarded numerous honors and continued to serve in a variety of ways. He was President of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine; served on the USMA Board of Trustees; earned the United States Military Academy's Distinguished Graduate Award, and was named to the Sports Hall of Fame of the AOSSM and West Point. The Feagin Leadership Program at Duke University was established to honor and build on Dr. Feagin's legacy of leadership in patient care in medicine. The program is in its 10th year of teaching and inspiring young medical professionals. To many, the program is the culmination of his life work, with a focus tying together leadership, education, patient care and ethical values. John is survived by his children Randle (Melissa) Feagin; Robert (Susan Temple) Feagin; and Nancy (Jonathan Carpenter) Feagin; and grandchildren Whitney Feagin; Lillian and Walter Duquette and Helen Feagin; and Connor Carpenter. He is also survived by Martha Feagin, his former wife, lifelong partner in family, and champion supporter; sister Katherine Jeter; nieces and nephews; and so many extended cousins, family and friends that he cherished. While serving as a mentor to many he remained forever grateful to his family for sharing his life's journey and for his friends, colleagues and extended family for tolerating his peripatetic course. He always tried to live the West Point Cadet Prayer: "Encourage us in our endeavor to live above the common level of life. Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong. ... And grant us new ties of friendship and new opportunities of service." May it be said, "Well done." His family is profoundly thankful for the care he received from St. John's Hospice, the Senior Center of Jackson Hole and Dr. Mike Menolascino. There will be a memorial service in November at the United States Military Academy Chapel at West Point in New York, where he will remain forever with his beloved classmates. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Feagin Leadership Program Endowment Fund. The endowment will ensure that Dr. Feagin's legacy lives on in perpetuity. The Feagin Leadership Program provides transformational learning experiences that develop effective, ethical leaders who positively influence healthcare.

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