Thomas Arthur Haygood

Thomas Arthur Haygood, M.D., died on January 11, 2026, at the age of 89. A physician by profession and a lifelong student of the world by nature, Tom lived a life defined by discipline, curiosity, honesty, and a quietly legendary dry sense of humor.

Born on January 21, 1936, in Indianapolis, Indiana, Tom developed an early respect for learning and hard work that never left him. He attended DePauw University and earned his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine. After completing his internship, he served in the United States Navy during the Vietnam era, including time stationed in Japan. His year aboard the USS Markab and subsequent service overseas broadened his already growing curiosity about the world and reinforced the discipline that would define his career.

Following his military service, Tom completed advanced training in Internal Medicine and Nephrology. He practiced medicine for 45 years, specializing in kidney disease. Colleagues often remarked that nephrologists were “the smart doctors,” a label Tom quietly dismissed. He attributed his success not to intelligence but to hard work, preparation, and discipline.

In 1980, seeking the opportunity to lead a dialysis unit, Tom moved to what he once described as a faraway place he had never heard of: Fort Collins, Colorado. There he spent the remainder of his career practicing nephrology and helping establish dialysis centers not only in Fort Collins but also in Sterling and Loveland, Colorado, and in Laramie and Lander, Wyoming. Many of these clinics served rural communities, extending specialized kidney care across significant distances. It was work he took seriously and approached with steady resolve.

Outside of medicine, Tom’s intellectual appetite was vast. He possessed a remarkable command of history and could easily have passed for a history professor in another life. He was an avid traveler who visited dozens of countries, drawn not by novelty but by a genuine desire to understand how people lived and how history shaped the present. He was especially passionate about traveling with his sons and believed that seeing the world firsthand was one of life’s greatest educations.

Tom was also a talented photographer with a keen eye for light, composition, and patience. He was a devoted orchid enthusiast, a description that hardly captures someone who built two separate greenhouses over the years to properly house and care for his collection. If Tom cared about something, he learned everything he could about it and then built the structure to support it.

Known for being terse, Tom was also deeply kind and very funny. His humor was understated and precise, often delivered quietly and without warning. Those who caught it felt rewarded. He believed life presented a never-ending stream of problems and that what mattered most was how one chose to respond to them with clarity, discipline, and effort.

Above all, Tom cared deeply about his family. He was especially eager to spend time with his granddaughters from the moment he first held them and remained fully engaged with them throughout their lives.

He is survived by his sons, Grant Thomas Haygood and his partner, Sarah Jayne Mein, and Ian James Haygood and his wife, Amanda Lynn Haygood; Sarah’s sons, Jaes McDonald and Liam McDonald; and his beloved granddaughters, Esme Rose Haygood (9) and Bryn Laurel Haygood (5).

Tom lived deliberately, worked tirelessly, and believed that honest communication and effort mattered. He will be deeply missed.