Howard Charles Malpass III

The world lost an amazing dad, husband, brother, son, and physician on Thursday, September 14, when Howard Charles Malpass, III (Charles to many, Charlie to his family), age 44, died from complications of his acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Charlie was the best of us. He is known to many for his quiet, humble, and brilliant care as a pulmonary physician at UVA Health. His specialty was interventional pulmonary and bronchoscopy, where he would work countless hours to deliver diagnostic lung results to his patients and provide clear guidance for their next steps of treatment. As chemotherapy was infusing on the first day of his diagnosis with AML, Charlie was calling patients back with their own good news that their disease was not cancer, and he did so with such grace and humility. Charlie wanted the pathologists reading this to know that his samples were always brilliant, with more than enough cells to get the diagnosis! He was well-known for his humor and was beloved by his colleagues. Charlie’s colleagues in the medical intensive care unit at UVA Health cared for him beautifully at the end of his life. Charlie would not want to be defined by his disease or by his work. He would want to be remembered for his role as a dad to his son, Huck – a role he poured his entire heart and soul into. The month before he died, he planned the entire itinerary for his family to go to London. The trip was such a huge success! His accolades as a father are too numerous to count, but in the weeks before he died, he was Huck’s soccer coach; they worked together to beat the video game Shredder’s Revenge, and they built Harry Potter Lego sets to add to their collection. He organized and hosted an epic water party for Huck’s friends before the start of school, and they were already scheming which Halloween decoration to add to their prized Halloween blow-up collection. Huck was the center of his universe. Charlie was an avid runner, and that brought him a lot of comfort throughout his treatment and period of remission. His claim to fame is that he was out running (and winning his age group) in races as someone who had recently completed cancer treatment. Charlie loved working outside around the house and making our lives more beautiful. He loved cooking for his family and family game nights. He deeply loved his wife, Jess, through their almost thirteen years of marriage. Charlie is survived by his son, Howard Charles Malpass IV (Huck), wife Jessica Keim Malpass; sister Sarah Katherine Malpass, parents Sara Janice Hough Malpass (Janice) and Howard Charles Malpass II; siblings-in-law Emily Keim Shaw, Daniel David Shaw, Nash Winchester Keim, Kathleen Bauserman Keim, parents-in-law, Laura Milam Keim, Bruce Richard Keim, nieces and nephews Baylor Daniel Shaw, Blake Magnolia Shaw (known as Stryker to Charlie), Otto Winchester Keim, Archie Pegram Keim, and his dog, Goose. These are some of Charlie’s favorite organizations to support: The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society https://www.lls.org St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital https://www.stjude.org Be the Match - https://bethematch.org NPR (National Public Radio) https://www.wvtf.org p.s. Jean, you still aren’t allowed to drive over the speed bumps.