John Christopher Whelton, M.D.

On Friday October 25th at 10:31 PM, Dr. John Christopher Whelton died at Good Samaritan Hospital and with his passing, our community lost a beloved healer and gentle soul who bettered every person with whom he came into contact.

Dr. Whelton was born on December 26, 1943 on Patrick’s Hill in Cork, Ireland to Andrew and Helen Whelton. He attended the Christian Brothers school and earned his degree in Medicine from the University College in Cork. He completed his post graduate training in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology at the Johns Hopkins University Hospital and subsequently worked at the Oxford University Rheumatology research unit at Taplow. Upon his return to the US, Dr. Whelton served as a Major in the United States Armed Forces during the Vietnam War and was named Associate Chief of Rheumatology at the Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, DC. After completing his military service, he moved to Palm Beach County in 1974 and proceeded to practice Rheumatology until his final days.

He served as the Director of the Division of Medicine at the Good Samaritan Hospital, Chairman of the Florida State Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation, and President of the Rehabilitation Center for Children and Adults of the Palm Beaches. He received many honors including an Army Commendation Medal, the Mother Teresa Humanitarian Award, and he was twice named volunteer of the year for the Arthritis Foundation of the Palm Beaches. He has actively supported his alma mater, Johns Hopkins, serving on their Rheumatology Advisory Board. He has established a fund at Johns Hopkins to support the training of future rheumatologists.

He loved his family, friends, community, and his patients with all his heart and practiced up until the moment he was hospitalized. His family will remember him as an eternally devoted and loving husband, father and caretaker whose kindness left an indelible imprint on his children and grandchildren. His friends and his patients will remember him as an astoundingly brilliant mind whose keen intellect was surpassed only by his boundless generosity and compassion. He was an avid traveler with a voracious appetite for knowledge and a buoyant zeal for life, which manifested in all of his passions, be it world history, horticulture, or golf.

John is survived by Mahnaz, his beloved wife of 51 years, his son Sean and daughter in-law Amy of Bethesda, MD, his daughter Soraya and son in-law Peter Geisler Jr. of Lake Worth, Florida, his son Bijan Whelton of Palm Beach, Florida, his brother Michael Whelton of Cork, Ireland, his brother Andrew and sister in-law Sharon Whelton of Cockeysville, MD, and his brother Paul and sister in-law Sheilagh Whelton of New Orleans, LA.

His family would like to extend a special thanks to the team at Good Samaritan Hospital who cared for him at all times with excellence and compassion.

Services will be held at 11:00 AM on November 2nd, 2019 at St. Edward’s Church in Palm Beach, Florida. In lieu of flowers please send donations to the John Whelton Fellowship in Rheumatology at Johns Hopkins University.

Donations can be made online: https://secure.jhu.edu/form/rheumato

Checks can be sent to:

Donna Bolin

Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center

MFL Center Tower, Ste 358

5200 Eastern Avenue

Baltimore, MD 21224