Photo Gallery: Dr. John T. 'Jack' Boyer Memorial

Family and friends of the late Dr. John T. "Jack" Boyer gather May 16 in HSIB Forum of the Health Sciences Innovation building to celebtrate his life.

Family and friends of the late John T. “Jack” Boyer, MD, hosted a celebration of life May 16 in the HSIB Forum of the Health Sciences Innovation Building for the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson founding physician, who joined the faculty in 1968 and launched three divisions in the Department of Medicine.

These include Geriatrics (now General Internal Medicine, Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine), Hematology and Rheumatology. Each now have key centers of excellence associated with them, the UArizona Center on Aging, the UArizona Cancer Center (which includes the current Division of Hematology-Oncology that also is still a division in the department), and the UArizona Arthritis Center.

Michael M.I. Abecassis, MD, MBA, dean of the College of Medicine – Tucson, offered the welcome address for the celebratory event. A selection of photos from the event can be found below.

Dr. Jack Boyer passed away Feb. 15 at the age of 93. An announcement of his death was posted to the college’s website on Feb. 23 that delineated key points in his medical career and life. He also was included in a story for the college’s 55th anniversary last fall, “Multigenerational Faculty Members Take Long View,” as he, his daughter, Leslie Boyer, MD, and wife, Georgiana “Georgie” Boyer, MD, were all faculty members of the college. He retired in 2003, but continued to provide care to aging patients as a volunteer. In 2021, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arizona Geriatrics Society. An annual departmental award for outstanding resident in general internal medicine is named in his honor.

Among other speakers at the memorial were Dr. Boyer’s son, Quentin Boyer, and Dr. Leslie Boyer, a former pathologist, director of the UArizona Poison & Disease Information Center and founder of the Venom Immunochemistry, Pharmacology and Emergency Response (VIPER) Institute, which sunsetted as a program in April. Both talked about family history and shared a photo montage of memories that included a brief video clip from the 1959 movie, “On the Beach.” The picture starred Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins and a young Dr. Boyer, who had been cast as a Navy corpsman while doing his fellowship in Australia where it was filmed.

Also speaking were: Leonardo Guzman, MD, who participated via video link from Santiago, Chile, and for whom Dr. Jack Boyer served as a mentor during his studies and training in Tucson; David Templin, MD, a colleague who recalled their early days working together in the Division of Rheumatology with the late Eric Gall, MD, to help launch the division and Arthritis Center; and Mindy Fain, MD, current chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine, Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine and co-director of the UArizona Center on Aging.

Dr. Leslie Boyer closed the celebration with commentary on “The Aging Geriatrician,” borrowing content from a paper published in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society in December, “John T. (Jack) Boyer, MD: Reflections of an aging geriatrician.”

Mouseover images below for captions and click on them to view larger version.