M edical R ecord F eature
In Memoriam James H. Jewell, Jr. M.D. by D. Michael Baxter, MD FAAFP
G
reat doctors are also great human beings. They demonstrate the best of our profession and serve their patients and society with the full breadth of their character and skill. Such was certainly the case of James H. Jewel, Jr, M.D., who entered this world born on April 22, 1932, and passed from us on October 30, 2021. Dr. Jewell was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Lehigh University and a graduate of Columbia University Medical School in 1959. He practiced as a Thoracic Cardiovascular surgeon from 19761991 on the medical staffs of the St. Joseph’s Hospital, Community General Hospital, and the Reading Hospital where he served as Chief of Thoracic Surgery from 1988-1991. That alone would have been a significant career; however, for Dr. Jewell that was only the beginning and perhaps his most important work lay ahead. After achieving recognition as a distinguished surgeon in Berks County, Dr. Jewell was led by his Christian Faith in 1991 to accept a call to medical missions in Zambia, Africa where he served as the Medical Director at Luampa Mission Hospital in Kaoma, Zambia from 1991-1995. He continued this calling as a senior lecturer in the Department of Surgery in the School of Medicine at the University of Zambia until 2017. He was a founding member of the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons and was chosen “Missionary of the Year” by the Christian Medical & Dental Association, USA, in 2002. He is survived by his wife and mission partner, Eleanor, seven children, sixteen grandchildren, and twelve great-grandchildren. I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Jewell during a few of his return visits to Berks County when he would speak to groups of the Reading Hospital Medical Staff about his work in Africa. His sense of commitment and indeed his evangelical enthusiasm in support of his work with both his patients and his students was clear to all in attendance. It is not trite to say that Jim Jewell was a true gem of a doctor and a person, whose skills, compassion, and faith reflected the very best of our profession and a passion for serving others. He will be missed but his legacy will certainly live on in the lives of his patients and in the work of the students and peers whom he inspired.
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