IN REMEMBRANCE : John William Comer , MD October 2 , 1948 - December 25 , 2023
Humility , or freedom from arrogance and pride , is an exalted and critically important virtue in the Catholic tradition . In the words of Saint Augustine , “ It was pride that changed angels into devils ; it is humility that makes men as angels .” Thomas Merton , writing from the Catholic monastery Our Lady of Gethsemani near Bardstown , suggested , “ Pride makes us artificial , and humility makes us real .” The English Catholic writer G . K . Chesterton was a bit more acerbic , writing in 1923 that , “ It is always the secure who are humble .”
My father , Dr . John William Comer – known to the community as Dr . Bill ; to me and my siblings as Dad ; to my sons as PomPom ; and to my brother Danny ’ s children as Abuelito – lived his life as if he were conducting a master class in the sacred art of humility . It ’ s a trait that was central to his essence . One could argue that humility is built into the fabric of the medical profession , which called to my father from a young age and whose core ethos , at every moment , balances the demand for security – the security in the soundness and comprehensiveness of one ’ s training , one ’ s knowledge and one ’ s technique – with an awe-filled reverence for the gravity , the enormity and the sanctity of one ’ s responsibility : human life . As if
to underline this , my father chose cardiology as his specialty . The human heart was his passion .
As a cardiologist , my father was driven by a profound sense of duty : the duty to provide thorough , detailed , best-in-class care to his patients . He saw himself not as a service provider , though he was deeply committed to service . He saw himself as a caretaker who was placed on earth to give back to others , and to God , the joy and the vitality they had breathed into him . His patients , in turn , adored him .
My father did not advertise his professional credentials , or his accomplishments – he pursued excellence only to better fulfill his duty . As a consequence many who knew him – and indeed many in our own family – may not be aware of the scope of his achievements . To honor him , I ’ d like to share a few .
He graduated from the University of Louisville , receiving highest honors in chemistry and the Stanley Walker Grubbs Award for Outstanding Premedical Senior . It was here that he met my mother , and his wife of 51 years , Dr . Clara Prada Comer . My mom points out that he attained these attributes somewhat effortlessly , as if he ’ d been meant to receive them ; and always quietly , without fanfare .
My father earned his medical degree from the University of
18 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE