Jack Alan Menius Jr.

November 27, 1961-June 3, 2023

Jack Alan Menius Jr. died at his home in Cary, N.C., June 3, 2023, at the age of 61.

Alan is survived by his wife Deborah Davis Menius; daughter Allison Menius Kieb and husband Josh Kieb; son Ryan Alan Menius; father Jack Alan Menius; sister Merry Kay Leithead; sister Suzanne Menius; and six nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his mother Kay Menius.

Growing up in Raleigh, Alan was into soccer, tennis, horses, music and cars. His sisters remember that he was always tinkering on something, his biggest project being the rebuilding of his beloved Datsun 1600 Roadster.

Alan met Deborah Davis when they were juniors at Raleigh’s Millbrook High School, and they’ve been together ever since. He went to N.C. State University, she to UNC-Chapel Hill, staying together throughout college. They were married for 38 years; they would have celebrated their 39th anniversary in July. Daughter Allison was born in 1993 and son Ryan in 2000.

Alan earned a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences/Biochemistry from N.C. State in 1984 and a Master of Health Science in Biometry from Duke University in 1990. He worked in a cardiology lab at Duke University for seven years and joined GlaxoWellcome in 1991. He retired in 2017 as head of GSK’s Medical Analytics Team. He then became an independent data analytics consultant for Datavant and Spencer Health Solutions. When Alan joined Spencer Health six-and-a-half years ago as Chief Scientific Officer, he found a calling in a company that helps people with challenging health issues stay at home longer and have a better quality of life. Spencer’s CEO credits Alan with having the rare ability to combine advanced analytics with empathy, “never losing sight of the humanity of our patients.” Alan’s colleagues called him a dear friend with a remarkable intellect and a big capacity for caring.

Alan had a lifelong love of music that ranged from classical to marching band, from rock to church choir. He played piano from an early age with his mother Kay as his teacher. Later in life, he always took great joy at the keyboard of his grand piano. In high school, he played trumpet and was drum major in Millbrook’s marching band. From high school through college, he played keyboards and sang in a rock band, traveling to gigs across the state. As a lifelong member of Raleigh’s White Memorial Presbyterian Church, Alan sang in its adult choir and played trumpet in the brass choir.

Alan was a gifted and skilled woodworker, creating beautifully crafted furniture that fills the Menius home. When daughter Allison was married, Alan constructed an 8-foot cross made of cypress for the wedding venue. Alan later refashioned the cross into a bench for Allison and Josh.

Alan loved taking his family on great trips, whether skiing the slopes of Crested Butte, bareboat sailing in the British Virgin Islands or traveling through Italy. He loved playing soccer, watching soccer, cheering for the Wolfpack and hosting football tailgates for family and friends. And he deeply loved Deborah, Allison and Ryan.

Alan served on the N.C. State University College of Sciences Foundation Board from 2012 to present. He and Deborah served as chairs of the N.C. State Chancellor's Circle Fund in 2015, and were annual members of the College of Sciences Dean's Circle, the N.C. State Chancellor's Circle and the Wolfpack Club.

Unbeknownst to many, for the past three-and-a-half years, Alan, with Deborah at his side, was waging a battle against two types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and metastasized colon cancer that he had quelled eight years earlier. Never a complainer or one to ask ‘why,’ Alan mostly kept his illness to himself, in spite of a grueling schedule of on-again, off-again treatments. He embraced those treatments with a positivity most of us cannot imagine.

Alan had a special bond with Dr. Mark Graham, Dr. Elizabeth Campbell, Nicole Jones, Susan Blumenthal and Amanda Centner of WakeMed Cancer Care/Waverly Hematology and Medical Oncology. Dr. Graham said that Alan was a “game fighter to the end” and a patient who had a character that allowed him “to go far beyond where even an optimist like me thinks they might go with their malignancies.” Alan’s family is forever grateful to his care team for their dedication to him and all of their patients.

A memorial service will be held Tuesday, July 11 at 11 a.m. at White Memorial Presbyterian Church, 1704 Oberlin Rd., Raleigh, N.C.

Memorial gifts may be made to the J. Alan Menius, Jr. Scholarship Fund in N.C. State University’s College of Sciences: online at go.ncsu.edu/alan_menius or by mail to NCSU College of Sciences Foundation, Campus Box 8118, Raleigh, N.C. 27695-8118.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.BrownWynneCary.com for the Menius family.