Kevin Leigh McKinley |
| Posted 2008-11-14 by Judy Wight Branson |
| The Daily Courier, Prescott, Arizona Sunday, October 22, 2006 Kevin Leigh McKinley, MD, chairman of the Department of Neurology at Ochsner Medical Center, passed away Oct. 5, 2006. He was 45. Born in Joplin, Mo., on April 24, 1961, he was an intuitive and compassionate physician with a passion for music. Beginning with his youth in Joplin, he was active in sports and loved the outdoors, particularly football, camping and flyfishing in pursuit of the wily trout. Dr. Robert Fielberg, friend and an Ochsner colleague, described McKinley as a man with "a contagious joy and an encyclopedic fund of knowledge. Being with him made average moments memorable and memorable moments extraordinary. He was one of those characters who made the world better just by being himself." He was a man for whom science was music and for whom music was a healing medicine. Dr. McKinley loved to synthesize his love of music with his passion for teaching. Fielberg recalled a time when McKinley played "The Jake Leg," an old blues song, to make a point to his students at the Tulane and Ochsner resident programs. The "Jake Leg," McKinley explained, was an actual disease caused by a bad batch of whiskey made during Prohibition and then went on to teach the finer points of diagnosis and treatment of "Jake Leg." Dr. McKinley earned his BA and his MD in a six-year program at the University of Missouri at Kansas City and was named to membership in the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. Upon completion of medical school. Dr. McKinley served an internal medicine internship and his neurology residency at 6aylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Following his residency, Dr. McKinley was awarded a neuromuscular disease fellowship at Baylor, where he remained as an instructor in the Department of Neurology before coming to the Ochsner Clinic. Dr. McKinley was a well-respected member of the Ochsner Health System medical staff for 14 years. He served as the chairman of the epartment of Neurology and he helped expand the neurology program at Ochsner bringing it both regional and national recognition. Board certified in neurology, Dr. McKinley specialized in the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease), multiple sclerosis (MS) peripheral neuropathy, myasthenia gravis and stroke. He belonged to several professional societies and received numerous awards and honors for teaching and research excellence. Dr. McKinley served on the advisory board for Louisiana chapter of the MS, the Clinical Advisory Board and the National EMS Society. He was an active clinical researcher, who frequently contributed articles to professional journals and often made presentations as an invited speaker. While his colleagues and patients respected him for his professionalism, compassion and extreme intelligence, his many friends knew him for his love of the outdoors and his passion for music and attending live concerts, particularly The Grateful Dead. When he moved to New Orleans, he discovered JazzFest and each year he rallied his friends from around the world to join him in celebration under the Ying/Yang flag. Kevin McKinley was the beloved father of Megan, Michael and Erin. He is survived by his parents, Galen McKinley of Joplin and Mary Alice Anderson of Prescott, Ariz.; his sister Christine Ashley Micklethwaite, Brett Sokol, Thomas Latham and Jesses Latham; nieces, Kendal Micklethwaite, Allison Latham, Kaitlyn Sokol, Sunny Sokol; and many other relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Luella Hunt Shank and Coyne Hunt, Hugh and Carmen McKinley; and nephews, Fletcher Micklethwaite and Paul Latham. The life of Dr. Kevin McKinley was celebrated on Wednesday, Oct. 11, by an outpouring of friends, family and colleagues at the Greenwood Funeral Home in New Orleans, La. On Saturday, Oct. 14, a private service for the scattering of the ashes of Dr. Kevin Leigh McKinley was held in his hometown of Joplin, Mo. Later that day an open house celebration of Kevin's life was held for family and friends at the home of his sister Ashley Christine Micklethwaite, also of Joplin. In lieu of flowers, Kevin and his family would be honored to have memorial donations made in his name to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society at 733 Third Aye., New York, N.Y., 10017, or to your local chapter of MS. Information provided by survivors. |
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