Dr. Walter Thompson Hughes, Jr.

Dr. Walter Thompson Hughes, Jr. age 91, passed away on August 8, 2021 in Memphis, TN, preceded in death by his beloved wife Frances Jeanette Hughes of Memphis and his parents Walter and Millie Hughes of Cleveland, TN. He is survived by his sister Millie Katherine Moore and his brother Dr. Joe L. Hughes, both of Atlanta, three children, Carla Lynne Hunt and Dr. Gregory Hughes of Memphis and Dr. Christopher Hughes of Pittsburgh, PA, five grandchildren, Amanda Hunt Brummett of Little Rock, AR, Dr. Collin Hunt of Rogers, AR, Taylor Haug of Seattle, WA, Sarah Hughes of New York City, Lt. Austin Hughes of Fort Lewis, WA, and his great grandson, Watson Haug of Seattle, WA.

Dr. Hughes was born on May 16, 1930 in Cleveland, TN and attended Arnold Memorial School, Bradley High School, Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, and the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, receiving an M. D. degree in March, 1954. After an internship at Knoxville General Hospital he became one of the first group of residents in Pediatrics at the new Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital and the University of Tennessee in Memphis and was certified as a Fellow in the American Academy of Pediatrics in 1957. In this year he was commissioned a Captain in the U. S. Army Medical Corps, and assigned to the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research Medical Unit at Ft. Detrick, MD, and Washington, DC, where he spent two years in research in Biological Warfare antidotes and Infectious Diseases. After military service he entered private practice in Pediatrics in his hometown of Cleveland. In 1961 he began a career in academic medicine at the University of Louisville School of Medicine where he rose quickly from Instructor to Professor of Pediatrics, Director Division of Infectious Diseases, Chief of Pediatrics at Louisville General Hospital and Physician-in-Chief at Louisville Children’s Hospital. He received the Outstanding Clinical Faculty Award in 1962, 1963 and 1967. In 1969 he moved to Memphis as one of the first generation of doctors chancing their futures at the new, small, unknown St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Walter was the first specialist in Pediatric Infectious Diseases in Memphis. He founded the Department of Infectious Diseases at St. Jude and served as its Chairman for many years, while also serving as Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine. At St. Jude, his research focused on infections in the immunocompromised host, discovering and developing the drugs trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, dapsone, and atovaquone to treat and prevent the fatal Pneumocystis pneumonia. These drugs have been the standard of practice for this pneumonia for more than 40 years, saving the lives of countless people with cancer, organ transplants, or AIDS. He initiated Pediatric AIDS research at St. Jude and received the endowed Arthur Ashe Chair for Pediatric AIDS Research.

In 1977 Dr. Hughes was recruited to Baltimore to head the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases as the endowed Eudowood Professor of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Here he quickly more than doubled the size of the Division with a cadre of outstanding faculty, established a new post-doctorate fellowship program, and became nationally and internationally active in developing the new field of Pediatric Infectious Diseases as a co-founder and first-elected President of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society of America.

In 1981 the flourishing and prestigious St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital recruited Walter back to Memphis to resume Chairmanship of the Department of Infectious Diseases and pursue research in infections associated with AIDS and cancer. At the time of his retirement in 1998 the Department of Infectious Diseases was an international leader in the field of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. His scientific publications were more than 500 in number in peer-reviewed journals and medical textbooks. After retirement he took up the hobby of creative writing and at the time of his demise had published seven books including The Yellow Martyrs (2000); The Last Leaf (2003); Ghosts of Misery Island (2006); Suffer the Little Children (2011); From Wales to Pneumocystis and AIDS – a memoir (2015); Dr. John Erskine: a Yellow Martyr (2016); and On Hallowed Ground: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (2018).

Walter was a quiet man of faith with a deep love of family and pride in his Welsh heritage. At the time of his demise he was a member of the First Methodist Church and earlier of Christ United Methodist Church in Memphis.

Memorial service will be held at the Memphis Funeral Home at 5599 Poplar Ave. Visitation from 9:30 AM until 10:30 AM, on Saturday, August 14. Funeral service at 10:30 AM, on Saturday, August 14. Military burial will follow at Elmwood Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or First United Methodist Church, Memphis.