Dr. Milton Michael Sholley

Sholley, Dr. Milton Michael, a resident of Midlothian, Virginia, passed away on October 17, 2025 at home with family. Dr. Sholley was born on April 7, 1947, in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, to the late Milton W. and Emma J. Sholley. He is survived by Peggy Sholley, his high school sweetheart and devoted wife of over 57 years. He is also survived by his daughter, Kristin Costello, her husband James Costello and their daughters Ashton and Amber; and by his son Matthew Sholley, Matthew’s son Connor and daughter Cailyn. Additionally, Dr. Sholley is survived by his sister Sabrina Heywood, and nieces Jenessa Richmond and Stacia Turk and their families.

In June of 1969, Dr. Sholley graduated from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, with a degree in natural science. Dr. Sholley then launched his career as a medical scientist and medical school teacher by earning his Ph.D. degree in Anatomy from Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia in July, 1973. While working at Temple University, he and Peggy welcomed their daughter Kristin. He, Peggy, and Kristin then relocated to Boston, where Dr. Sholley worked in the Harvard Pathology Unit of Boston City Hospital for one year. For the next two years, Dr. Sholley worked at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital as a Research Associate in Pathology and Instructor of Anatomy at Harvard Medical School until August, 1976. The family then moved to Richmond, where Dr. Sholley began work as an Assistant Professor of Anatomy at the Medical College of Virginia (now the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine or MCV/VCU). In 1978 he and Peggy welcomed the birth of their son Matthew. Dr. Sholley then rose through the ranks at MCV/VCU, becoming a Full Professor of Anatomy (later Anatomy and Neurobiology) in 1991 and serving until his retirement in 2009.

Dr. Sholley's research involved the anatomical, physiological, and pathological study of vascular endothelial cells, which form the lining of blood vessels. He was author or co-author of many scientific papers, abstracts, and book chapters and published a seminal research paper in 1984 entitled "Mechanisms of Neovascularization: Vascular Sprouting Can Occur without Proliferation of Endothelial Cells". This publication became a landmark study in the field of angiogenesis and is still cited today.

Dr. Sholley was heavily involved in teaching medical and graduate students. He was an instructor of human gross anatomy at Harvard Medical School for two years. After that he taught human gross anatomy and embryology to medical and graduate students at MCV/VCU for 33 years, serving as course director of gross anatomy for six of those years. Students faithfully attended Dr. Sholley’s lectures, which he crafted continuously to make them clear, concise, and clinically relevant. After his lectures students transitioned to the gross anatomy laboratory, where they tended to follow him from station to station around the lab to participate in his discussions of the material. Dr. Sholley's forte was small group teaching, and because a crowd usually followed him around the lab, students long ago gave him the nickname "Sholley Trolley" and that was his moniker until he retired. Over the years the medical students at MCV/VCU presented him with 29 teaching awards, ranging from "Best Analogies" to "Excellence in Medical School Teaching Award in the Basic Sciences", an award presented by the graduating medical class of 1996. Dr. Sholley was grateful to all of his students for the honor and privilege of learning together with them.

Dr. Sholley found time to serve as a Webelos Den Leader in Pack 892 for one year and then as an assistant scoutmaster in Boy Scout Troop 829 for five years. But he spent most of his free time with his family. They enjoyed tent camping in the state parks of Virginia and North Carolina, road trips from Nova Scotia to Key West, weeks at the Outer Banks, and especially those unforgettable summer days at his Mom and Dad's Trailer along Penns Creek in central Pennsylvania. In recent years, he and Peggy exchanged tent camping for cruising, and ships took them to many places they had thought they would never see. More than traveling, though, he enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren and took special delight in watching Grammy, who was entirely in her element with the grandchildren. Dr. Sholley said that family was the most important aspect of his life and he was immensely grateful for the loving life that he led with them.

A visitation will be held at Woody Funeral Home- Huguenot Chapel, 1020 Huguenot Rd Midlothian, VA on Saturday, Oct 25, 2025 from 4pm-6pm. A funeral Service will be held at Woody's on Sunday, October 26, 2025 at 2:00 pm with a visitation one hour prior. A reception will follow Sunday's service.

In lieu of flowers, donations are encouraged to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and/or the VCU Massey Cancer Center.