Dr. John Thomas Eagan, SR.

Dr. John Thomas Eagan Senior, age 90, of Birmingham died on July 21 surrounded by his loving family after a battle with cancer. He lived a life full of adventure, love for his family, and passion for his life's work as a physician for over 66 years. Dr. Eagan was born in Baltimore, Maryland to parents John Timothy Eagan and Ruth Gill Eagan. His paternal grandfather Hugh Eagan immigrated from Ireland to the United States. His mother's family, the Gills, came to Maryland in the 1600s. His childhood was spent crabbing and fishing on the Chesapeake Bay. He excelled academically and was selected to leave his public school (and childhood friends) to attend a junior high school and high school for gifted students. Through these schools, he was introduced to his love of art at the Walters Art Gallery. He graduated from Baltimore City College Preparatory High School in 1946. Dr. Eagan went on to attend both college and medical school at John Hopkins University, graduating in 1949 and 1953 respectively. His summers in medical school were spent working in Dr. Thomas B. Turner's (future Dean of the School of Medicine at Hopkins) biology research lab, as a hospital orderly, and as an Ordinary Seaman on an oil tanker for Standard Oil. From 1953-1954, Dr. Eagan completed an internship in Internal Medicine at Duke University Medical Center. The following year he was called up by the Navy for submarine training in New London, Connecticut and Nova Scotia before being stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. It was at Camp Lejeune that he met the love of his life, June Coker Oliver, who was working for the Red Cross. They became engaged before he embarked on a yearlong deployment with the Navy for Operation Deep Freeze. Dr. Eagan served as one of the chief medical officers for the tour of duty during which he circumnavigated the globe on the U.S.S Arneb. In addition to research, the mission was to re-establish the navel exploration base Little America in Antarctica. The ship passed through both the Suez and the Panama Canals, and they spent time inside the arctic circle working on the DEW Line, a system of radar stations set up to detect Soviet threats during the Cold War. He often gave slide talks about his work on Operation Deep Freeze and the history of exploration in the Antarctic. Upon completion of his year at sea, he returned to the U.S. and married June Oliver in Dadeville, Alabama on June 2, 1956. As newlyweds, John and June returned to Duke to complete Dr. Eagan's medical training and start their family. He was one of the first fellows in Cardiology at Duke Medical Center. In 1960, the Maryland native adopted his bride's home state and began his over 55 years of practicing medicine in the Birmingham area. John truly loved his life's work as a physician. He cared deeply for his patients, carried high regard for his fellow doctors, valued greatly the work of hospital nurses, and loved the staff who helped him run his practice for many meaningful years. In 2015 he retired at the age of 86. He served as President of the Medical Staff at Montclair in 1973 and, in recent years, has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Grandview Medical Center. Dr. Eagan was an active member of Shades Valley Presbyterian Church for over 50 years, with most of those years spent as a member of the choir. He also has served as an Elder, Sunday school teacher, Bible study leader, and willing assistant to June and the Chancel Committee. Dr. Eagan enjoyed spending time at their weekend home in Stillwaters at Lake Martin. He also enjoyed cake baking, gardening, Auburn athletics, and Braves baseball and the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, he was prolific reader of non-fiction and was a member of the American Polar Society. Dr. Eagan is preceded in death by his parents, John and Ruth Eagan. He is survived by his beloved wife of 63 years June Oliver Eagan, daughters Sarah Eagan Burchfield and Walton Eagan Foster (Key), sons Dr. John Thomas Eagan, Jr. (Kendall) and Mark Christopher Eagan (Melody), grandchildren Walton Burchfield Cobb (Maury), Caroline Burchfield Lasseter (Lake), Claire Hamilton Eagan, Emily Eagan Cutt (David), Mark Christopher Eagan Jr., John Gill Eagan, George Weston Eagan, Preston Oliver Eagan, Arthur Key Foster, IV, Thomas Coker Foster, Samuel Isaac Eagan, William Andrew Eagan, great-grandchildren Sarah Nelle Lasseter, Edward Lake Lasseter Jr., Margaret Eagan Cobb, Evelyn June Cutt. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Shades Valley Presbyterian Church or the charity of your choice. The family wishes to extend our very special thanks to the staff and doctors of the intensive care unit at Grandview who cared for him so well. A memorial service will be held at Shades Valley Presbyterian Church on Thursday, July 25 at 2:00 pm with visitation to follow in the Fellowship Hall.