Dr. John Charles Baldwin passed away on Sunday, April 3, following a swimming accident that occurred along the Pacific coastline in San Diego, California. He was sixty-seven years old. Dr. Baldwin’s life and career was accompanied by a record of extraordinary accomplishments, and his dedication to service touched the lives of untold patients, families, and colleagues. To those that knew him, he was a father, a husband, a doctor, a mentor, a historian, an activist, and a protector. He is survived by his two sons, Benjamin Baldwin of Dallas, Texas, and Andrew Baldwin of New Haven, Connecticut, and his grandson Jack Baldwin of Dallas, Texas. He was preceded in death by his eldest son, Alistair Baldwin of Boston, Massachusetts.
The only child of Charles and Annabel Baldwin, John was born in Fort Worth, Texas, where he lived until the age of 5 when the severity of his childhood asthma compelled his parents to move – sight unseen – to Las Cruces, New Mexico, in search of a climate better-suited to his condition. The asthma subsided, and John excelled as a varsity athlete, class president, and school valedictorian. He attended Harvard College, where among other accolades, he was awarded the Wendell Scholarship, elected to the Phi Beta Kappa honors society, graduated summa cum laude, and was selected for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship. Following the requisite year of study at Oxford, he began medical school at Stanford University, and after completing both medical and surgical residencies at Massachusetts General Hospital, he returned to Stanford to complete his training in cardiothoracic surgery under the tutelage of world-renowned surgeon, Dr. Norman Shumway. His career ultimately led him to Yale University, where he served as Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery and performed the first successful heart-lung transplant on the East Coast, then to Baylor College of Medicine, where he succeeded Dr. Michael DeBakey as Chairman of the Department of Surgery. In accordance with his life-long dedication to academics, he further served as Dean of Dartmouth Medical School, President of the Immune Disease Institute at Harvard, and finally returned to his native Texas when he was appointed President of the Health Sciences Center at Texas Tech University.
John’s life pursuits transcended his work as a practicing physician. He was a passionate advocate for universal access to healthcare and human rights within the United States and abroad, and unwaveringly championed his convictions through national publications, governmental hearings, and friendly personal debate. In recognition of these efforts, he was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the U.S. Defense Health Board – a federal advisory committee responsible for overseeing military healthcare. Though he never considered himself to be a “businessman,” the breadth of his experience resulted in his participation on directorial boards of several Fortune 500 companies. An avid historian and admitted anglophile, John’s interest in the life of King Edward VIII began during his time at Oxford, and he derived great pleasure from his small archival collection and the opportunity to share his efforts through graduate and undergraduate coursework. True to his generation, he was an admirer of the Kennedys. He was honored by the relationships he formed with members of that esteemed family, and was proud to have served on the board of the Robert F. Kennedy Foundation in defense of human rights throughout the world. He was a member of the Harvard University Board of Overseers, and cherished his long-time association with the institution that he credited with nurturing his love of knowledge. He had a fondness for books, was an avid reader, and was himself a story-teller at heart. A proud Son of the Republic of Texas, he spent much of his free time at his ancestral home in Anna, Texas, where he sought to preserve and venerate his family’s legacy in the area. Most of all, he loved his family, who were blessed with the security of his unquestioned and unyielding support through any crisis – large or small. His life was one of extraordinary success and achievement, but he will be missed on a deeply personal level by the great many people that knew and loved him.
A graveside service will be held at 11am on Saturday, April 16, at Highland Cemetery in Melissa, Texas.
A memorial is also planned to honor John’s life and career, to be held at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center on Wednesday, April 20, at 4:30pm in Lubbock, Texas.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in John’s memory to:
- The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (www.cff.org)
- St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, McKinney, Texas (www.stpetersmckinney.com)