1929
John
2015
John (Jack) Travis
May 12, 1929 — March 18, 2015
John (Jack) W. Travis passed away peacefully on March 18, 2015. He was 85 years old. Jack was born in Great Falls, Montana to John and Frances Travis, and grew up in Havre, Montana. He graduated from Havre High School, and then initially attended Colgate University, subsequently earning his undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado in 1951. Jack was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society and Beta Theta Pi social fraternity. In 1955, he was awarded both a medical degree and Masters of Pharmacology from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Both degrees were with distinction. He served as a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy during his residency at Great Lakes Naval Station and was chief of radiology for that facility.
He moved to Topeka, Kansas in 1960 and joined a small private group of radiologists where he practiced for nearly three decades. The practice, Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, became one of the largest and most preeminent radiology groups in the central United States under his partnership and leadership. Jack served as President of the Kansas Medical Society and the Kansas division of the American Cancer Society. He was also President of the American Society of Therapeutic Radiologists, a consultant for Blue Cross Blue Shield, and was active in numerous state and federal government organizations and task groups. Upon retirement, he taught for several years at Washburn University of Topeka as an adjunct professor.
Jack loved jazz, having played drums in combos through a large portion of his early adult life. His ongoing love of music was frequently a source of joyful annoyance to his family and friends as he would bang out a rhythm on the dinner table at a public establishment using a heavy ring finger, sometimes also “sitting in” with live bands and demonstrating why he properly chose medicine as his real profession. He was a genuinely brilliant man with an enormous heart and capacity for empathy, and was possessed of unparalleled bedside manner for those who were suffering and needed comfort.
Jack was preceded in death by the love of his life and wife of 57 years, Mary Ann. He is survived by his children, Ann, Peter, and John, and by his sister, Susan, plus five grandchildren, Emily, Sarah, Laura, Will, and Meg.
A memorial service will be held at 7 pm on Wednesday, March 25, 2015 at the Johnson County Funeral Chapel.
He moved to Topeka, Kansas in 1960 and joined a small private group of radiologists where he practiced for nearly three decades. The practice, Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, became one of the largest and most preeminent radiology groups in the central United States under his partnership and leadership. Jack served as President of the Kansas Medical Society and the Kansas division of the American Cancer Society. He was also President of the American Society of Therapeutic Radiologists, a consultant for Blue Cross Blue Shield, and was active in numerous state and federal government organizations and task groups. Upon retirement, he taught for several years at Washburn University of Topeka as an adjunct professor.
Jack loved jazz, having played drums in combos through a large portion of his early adult life. His ongoing love of music was frequently a source of joyful annoyance to his family and friends as he would bang out a rhythm on the dinner table at a public establishment using a heavy ring finger, sometimes also “sitting in” with live bands and demonstrating why he properly chose medicine as his real profession. He was a genuinely brilliant man with an enormous heart and capacity for empathy, and was possessed of unparalleled bedside manner for those who were suffering and needed comfort.
Jack was preceded in death by the love of his life and wife of 57 years, Mary Ann. He is survived by his children, Ann, Peter, and John, and by his sister, Susan, plus five grandchildren, Emily, Sarah, Laura, Will, and Meg.
A memorial service will be held at 7 pm on Wednesday, March 25, 2015 at the Johnson County Funeral Chapel.
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