Dr. Howard S. Weldon Jr.

Howard S. Weldon, Jr., MD, FACS died at his home Thursday, October 1, 2015, one month and one week before his 70th birthday, following a brief period of living with cancer. He was surrounded by his loved ones and at home on his farm when he passed.

Dr. Weldon practiced general and vascular surgery in Phenix City, Alabama and Columbus, Georgia for more than thirty-eight years. A graduate of Opelika High School (1964) and Auburn University (1967), Dr. Weldon received his MD from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he also completed his surgical internship in 1972, and he served at the US Public Health Service from 1972 to 1974, and completed a surgical residency at Tulane University (Charity Hospital) in 1977. He was made a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons in 1980.

Intellectually curious, famously hardworking, and down-to-earth funny, “Doc” never wavered in his conviction that medicine was a ministry and a gift to be shared with his fellow human beings. In his office hung a version of a favorite quote from the sixteenth-century French surgeon Ambroise Pare: “For my part I have dispensed liberally to everybody the gifts that God has conferred upon me, and I am none the worse for it; just as the light of a candle will not diminish, no matter how many may come to light their torches by it.”

Like his father before him, a fellow physician and farmer, “Doc” lived a full life of multiple vocations and avocations, all of which were united by a spirit of humility, generosity, and wonder. Equally curious about the intricacies of the vascular system or of Civil War history, which he enjoyed discussing with his brother Jimmy, he experienced deep delight in quail hunting with his birddogs over his farms in rural Russell County, riding his spotted saddle horse, “Little Joe,” planting young longleaf pines, and managing a commercial cattle herd that won him mention as Alabama’s Cattleman of the Year in the early 90s.

A member of Trinity United Methodist Church in Phenix City and a lifelong outdoorsman and conservationist, Dr. Weldon also took great pride in his family. He and his wife of forty-five years, Peggy Eastman Weldon, saw their three children, Amy, Carrie, and Daniel, go on to become doctors as well – Carrie and Daniel as successfully practicing doctors of veterinary medicine in the Columbus area and Amy as a tenured professor of literature at Luther College. Dr. Weldon delighted in welcoming Philip Cowley to the family, and he treasured his grandchildren, Elizabeth and John Philip Cowley.

Dr. Weldon is preceded in death by his parents, Dr. Howard S. Weldon, Sr. and Martha Sue Verdin Weldon of Opelika, AL, and several damn fine bird dogs. He is survived by his wife, Peggy Eastman Weldon; his brothers James V. Weldon and Bennett T. Weldon; his daughter Amy Weldon; his daughter and son-in-law Caroline Weldon Cowley and Philip Cowley; his son, Daniel Weldon; his grandchildren Elizabeth and John Cowley; and many friends, patients, colleagues, and bird hunting companions.

A memorial service to celebrate the life of Dr. Weldon will be held at Trinity United Methodist Church, Phenix City, Alabama, at 3:00 pm EST on Sunday 4 October 2015.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the United Methodist Children’s Home in Selma, AL, or to the Nancy Eastman Harp Oncology Nursing Scholarship at UAB School of Nursing (NB 119,1701 Univ. Blvd.,1530 3rd Ave. S.,Birmingham, AL 35282-9885), established in 1991 in memory of Nancy Eastman Harp, Peggy’s sister. Little did we know then what an important role oncology nurses would play in the lives of this family.