Dr. John N. Harrington
Published 6:00 am Friday, August 13, 2010
Services for Dr. John N. Harrington will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. at First Baptist Church with Dr. Shawn Parker officiating. Private graveside services with military honors will be held after the funeral at Friendship Cemetery with Memorial Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.
Dr. Harrington, 90, of Columbus, died Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2010, at his residence. Dr. Harrington was born Aug. 9, 1920, in Meridian to James Samuel and Hallie Anderson Harrington. He attended Meridian Public Schools and graduated from Meridian High. He was a member of the 114 FA, 31st Division, Mississippi National Guard which was federalized in October, 1940. Stationed at Camp Blanding, Fla., he trained for a year before being assigned to OCS, Ft. Sill in Oklahoma. He graduated and was commissioned 2nd lieutenant. After his transfer to the U.S. Army Air Corps, he received pilot training at the B-17 school at Sebring, Florida. John and his crew were assigned to the 96th Bomb Squadron, 2nd Bomb Group at Foggia, Italy. From there they flew bombing missions over Hungary, Northern Italy, Yugoslavia and Rumania until they were shot down over Vienna, Austria, on July 16, 1944. He spent the next ten months at Stalag Luft I in Barth, Germany, as a prisoner of war. It was during this difficult time he committed himself to follow in his Grandfather’s footsteps by choosing a career in medicine. He was liberated by the Russians in May 1945, returned to the states in June and by October was enrolled in the University of Alabama where he earned a bachelor of science degree in 1948. In 1949 he married Jacqueline Farrell, also from Meridian. John received his M.D. from Tulane University in 1951. He interned at Charity Hospital in New Orleans as well as Walter Reed Hospital, serving two years as an Air Force Medical Officer during the Korean War. Following this additional military service, Dr. Harrington returned to Tulane for his OB-GYN specialty training. John, Jackie, and their four children, moved to Columbus where he established his OB-GYN practice in 1956. While in private practice he also served on the staffs of Doster Hospital and Columbus Hospital, was consultant OB-GYN, USAF Hospital, Columbus Air Force Base, and college physician at MSCW. He was one of seven local physicians who met in architect Bill Rosamond’s office to initiate community efforts to build a county hospital – the resulting Golden Triangle Regional Medical Center still serves our community as Baptist Memorial Hospital.
Dr. Harrington, a member of the AMA, MSMA, and Diplomate American Board OB-GYN, retired in 1987 – his retirement announcement gave insight into his understanding of the unique relationship between physician and patient by expressing appreciation for his patient’s “confidence and loyalty”. Much time during his retirement years was spent on the golf course with close friends and on the gulf with his family, fishing for speckled trout, king mackerel, and redfish. John and his wife Jackie were involved in numerous professional, civic, and social organizations. He and Jackie were longtime members of the First Baptist Church of Columbus and the Annunciation Catholic Church.
Survivors include his children Fred Harrington (Eileen Fleming) of Coral Gables, Fla., Leslie Harrington of Birmingham, Ala., John Harrington (Tracy Hamlin) of New Orleans, La. and Chris Harrington of Columbus; grandchildren, Carrie and Cody Buntain and Olivia and Alison Harrington; sister and brother-in-law, Claire and Charles Bidgood of Meridian; sister-in-law, Sarah Harrington of Roswell, N.M.; and sisters-in-law and their husbands, Leslie and William Threadgill of Columbus and Coleta and Don Newton of Birmingham, Ala.; and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Jacqueline Farrell Harrington, who died March 23, 2008; mother and father, and four brothers, William, Edwin, Joseph Louis and Fred.
Pallbearers will be family and friends.
Honorary pallbearers will be Charles Bidgood Sr., Don Newton Sr., William Threadgill, Jim Campbell Sr., Dr. William Harrell, members of the Sippin’ and Seafood Supper Club, the Lay Abouts Golf Group, and you, his former patients, who throughout his retirement years would stop him on the street, in restaurants, and while shopping in town, to tell him how much you appreciated him, and how sorry you were when he retired. Such comments gave him great joy and made him proud to have served his community for so many years.
Memorials may be made to your local charity of choice in Dr. Harrington’s memory.
Visitation will be Saturday, from 12:30 p.m.-2 p.m. at the church.