Dr. John H. Kier's Obituary
Dr. John H. Kier, 90, passed away July 5, 2010 at his home. He was born in Lexington, MS on January 15, 1920, the son of John H. and Edna Moore Kier. At Lexington High, he was on the track and football teams, Editor of the school newspaper and graduated as Salutatorian in 1937. At the age of 15, Dr. Kier won first prize in Mississippi statewide contest in chemistry. After graduation, he entered Southwestern at Memphis (now Rhodes College), where he took pre-medical courses and graduated second in his class. His medical plans were interrupted by World War II. He served for four year in the Navy, and met his wife Christine in Bethlehem, PA, where he was taking courses in Lehigh University in Marine Engineering. They were married August 1, 1942 in the Olde Moravian Chapel, which was built in 1742 by the Moravian settlers in Bethlehem, PA. They were sent to Cape May, NJ where John spent a year as Engineering Officer aboard an anti-submarine warfare ship doing convoy work along the east coast. He spent the next two years in the South Pacific doing anti-submarine warfare training for ships of the Seventh Fleet. He arrived back in the states at the end of the war just in time to enter Duke University School of Medicine and graduated in 1948. His internship and residency training were spent at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. He then joined the Veterans Administration Hospital in Memphis as a gastroenterologist, and was also a faculty member at the University of Tennessee Medical School where he rose to the rank of full professor. Dr. Kier was a fellow of the American college of Physicians and Diplomate of the Board of Internal Medicine. His main interests were travel, especially to Europe, reading, and swimming, which he enjoyed all his life. Dr. Kier leaves behind, in addition to his wife of 68 years, Christine, a son John H. Kier, III, a CPA in Roswell, GA, and a sister Patricia of Philadelphia, PA. Dr. Kier was a teacher, mentor and beloved friend to all who knew him. When he wasn’t practicing medicine, Dr. Kier taught up-and-coming doctors at the University of Tennessee as a Professor of Medicine. Visitation will be held 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., Saturday, July 10, at Memorial Park Funeral Home. The funeral service will be held at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, July 10 also at Memorial Park Funeral Home. Interment will be in Memorial Park Southwoods Cemetery, 5485 Hacks Cross Rd. Memphis TN.
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