John Dewey Dorsett,, M.D. Jr.

John Dewey Dorsett, Jr. M.D. died on Palm Sunday, April 5th, 2020 of coronary heart disease and congestive heart failure. He was born June 25th, 1923 in Pittsboro, N.C. where his father was Clerk of Court for Chatham County. He was born to parents John Dewey Dorsett, Sr. and Minerva Jenkins Dorsett. His paternal grandparents were John Dallas Dorsett and Ruth Julie Perry Dorsett; maternal grandparents were Joseph J. Jenkins and Albra Tiny Pearson Jenkins, and step grandmother Emma Gray Simpson. The Dorsett family moved to Siler City in 1926 and again to Raleigh in 1929 where J.D, as he was called by family and friends, attended Broughton High School. At Broughton, he was a member of the debate team. In 1939, he and his debate partner, Grover Poole, won the state championship sponsored by Wake Forest University speaking in favor of the United States forming an alliance with Great Britain countering the emergence of Nazi Germany. In 1939, his father went into the insurance business in New York City. The family moved to Ridgewood, N.J. and J.D. graduated from Ridgewood High School in 1940. In September 1940, Dewey entered the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, he joined the Army Aviation cadet program and was called for active duty in February of 1943. He was awarded his Pilot Wings and was commissioned a second lieutenant flying B-17s. He was assigned to the 303rd Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force. He flew 30 missions over Nazi Germany, including the bombing of Dresden. He was honorably discharged in 1945. He was a lifelong Army supporter and provided volunteer medical services to the Army enlistment program after his retirement from medical practice. It was during the war that he decided to study medicine. He re-enrolled at the University of North Carolina and received his Bachelor degree in 1947. At UNC, he was president of his fraternity, Alpha Tau Omega ('45) and president of the student body ('46). He was also a member of the Golden Fleece and the Order of the Grail. Dewey's love of and passion for UNC never waned. He was a tireless, life-long advocate for the university serving on numerous university boards and participating in alumni groups. While calm and collected in the cockpit of a B-17 bomber or the hospital emergency room, he could be found nervously pacing his neighborhood or yard during UNC football and basketball games, especially UNC vs. Duke. Upon completion of his undergraduate work, he entered the UNC medical school and transferred in 1949 to Washington University in St. Louis. Dewey received the M.D. degree in 1953 completing his training in internal medicine and cardiology. He returned to Chapel Hill for his residency in medicine. In 1956, he married Alice Hicks of Faison, N.C. He departed Chapel Hill in 1960 with Alice and two small sons in tow, Dewey III and Thomas, for Charlotte where he joined the internal medicine practice of Preston White, M.D. and Lester Brooks, M.D. During his years of practice in Charlotte, he worked as chair of the department of medicine at Presbyterian Hospital, president of the medical staff at Presbyterian, president of Mecklenburg County Medical society and president of the Heart Association Mecklenburg County. He also became a fellow of the American Society of Cardiology and served three years on the governing board of that institution. He was also certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. Dewey was an early proponent of physician continuing education and re-certification as the rapidly changing advances in medicine during the 1970s obsolesced current practices. In 1961, Dewey and Alice joined the First Presbyterian Church of Charlotte where he served as an elder and a deacon. Upon request of the Reverend Carswell Hughes, Dewey and others formed the walk-in ministry staffed by church laymen to serve persons who came to the church daily with material as well as spiritual needs. He provided this lay ministry for much of his life. Dewey also worked with the music director, Earl Berg, to create the Christmas Eve service of music and worship. He taught adult Sunday school classes. He was also a member of the first board of directors of the First Church School. Dewey will be remembered for his sense of service, his sense of humor and his love of life. He enjoyed hikes through the mist and rain of the Smoky Mountains and family summer sojourns to Wrightsville Beach continuing a tradition started by his father. He found simple joy tending to his garden and in Sunday dinners at home. His love for his family and his friends was bountiful as was his loyalty. His pride and joy were his grandchildren. He is survived by his wife, Alice Hicks Dorsett, his two sons, Dewey III and his wife, Dana (Princeton, NJ) and Louis Thomas (Tommy) Hicks and his wife, Dawn (Charlotte, NC). He is also survived by five grandchildren, Melissa Dawn Dorsett (Hopewell, NJ), Mary Rachel Dorsett (New York City), Thomas Hicks Dorsett (Charlotte, NC), Rosemary Albra Dorsett and her husband, Erin Koen (New York City) and John Dewey Dorsett IV (New York City metropolitan area). Also surviving him are his beloved nieces, Mary D. Pender McAlister (Zionville, NC), Rogers Gibbon Pender (Camden, SC), Anne Pender Griffith (Charlotte, NC), Ann Terrell Dorsett (Charlotte, NC), Mercer Tucker (Eldersburg, MD) , Frances Tucker Gilbert (Charlottesville, VA), Nancy Hicks Barefoot (Raleigh, NC) and his beloved nephews Joseph (Jody) Jenkins Dorsett, Jr. (Youngstown, OH), John Robert Pender IV, M.D. (Billings, MT), Campbell Tucker (Charlotte, NC) and I. Faison Hicks (Raleigh, NC). Dewey was predeceased by his mother and father, John Dewey (Big Dewey) Dorsett, Sr. and Minerva Jenkins Dorsett. He was also predeceased by his brother, Joseph Jenkins Dorsett, his wife, Betty Jo Dorsett and his sister, Mary Dorsett Pender and her husband, John Robert Pender III, M.D.