The very spirit of Dr. John Judson was service!

 

 

 

 

At the core of his drive for life was the Rotary motto “Service Above Self.”  His drive was defined in his career as a heart surgeon, and his personal life as a doer in so many ways, to provide others with a good, healthy and prosperous life. For this passion of service, Dr. John Judson was recognized at the local Rotary Club level, District, Zone and Rotary International.  Mention his name and his legacy is clear. 

 

Go to a Rotary meeting at any level and every time you mention his name, you will hear a new story of his care, compassion, integrity and his seemingly endless drive.  You often heard a joyous statement like, “Oh, you mean ‘Jumpin’ John.”

 

Rotarians around the world were drawn to John’s unshakable integrity, his unassuming power to engage people to make things happen.  These forces combined to feed his endless energy.

 

 

Talk to Ira Packman, a long-time co-worker of Dr. John’s at the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania health department.  “His dedication to the principal of “Service above Self” and his heart felt enthusiasm for Service were overpowering. Both men served the state as Medical Consultants for Standards of Care.

 

All you had to do was to spend an hour or so with him in his office. In that time, you would witness an endless stream of ideas for service projects, which magically became your personal projects. His smile and selfless desire to help others were the basis of his power to make everyone who worked with him a better person.

 

If he wasn’t coming up with service projects (Red Cross Blood Drive, RCH’s Homeless Initiative, clean water and surgical services for Haitian men, women and children.  He was also dedicated to helping other groups obtain funding through the Foundation for their projects and Service dreams.”

 

 

 

 

Dr. John served on the board, in the progression of officer positions to being Club President, then Chair of the Harrisburg Rotary Foundation.  During these years, he was continuously active at the District 7390 level as chair of the Grants Committee, advisor to District Governors and then as District Governor.

 

One major service project that involved our RCH, other regional club members and District 7390 leadership helped third graders at the Foose Elementary classes of Harrisburg’s school district.  These students had trouble seeing the front of the classroom and were recommended by their teachers to have an eye exam.  Dr. John was instrumental in engaging ophthalmologists and optometrists and dozens of Rotary members to evaluate the students’ needs, order prescription lenses and then obtain eye glass frames. The proper lenses were prepared, put into frames and donated to the students.

 

During Rotary International’s 100^th anniversary of Service Above Self, Dr. John organized RCH members, the then Harrisburg mayor Linda Thompson and the city of Harrisburg’s Parks Department to plant 100 trees between Front Street and the Susquehanna River.  On a sunny day dozens of RCH members gathered under a tent on Front Street Park to get organized then strategically plant the trees.

 

 

As noted by Dr. Thomas Johnston and RCH Past President, “Dr. John was a pilot and part owner of a plane with me.   We flew patients needing medical care to and from hospitals for Angel Flights throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.  It was only natural that he was active in the Rotary International Fellowship of Flying Rotarians.  

 

From mid-June 1997 to July 1999, Dr. John served as Medical Director and Chief of Surgery at the Hospital Albert Schweitzer in Deschapelles, Haiti.  While in Haiti, joined a local Rotary club starting a life-long engagement with the Rotary Club of Harrisburg, District 7239 and Rotary International.  For years after returning to the states, he organized, led and traveled on several medical missions to numerous Haitian hospitals.

 

 

When he and Ann Marie moved to Bethany Village in Mechanicsburg, they both  extended the spirit of service addressing climate issues locally by helping start an Ecology Team at the Village the Team promotes recycling and self-sustaining gardening on the campus.  Then they joined in an implementation of a Healing Garden for residents in the skilled care to view the best of Mother Nature.”

 

 

 

As the first recipient of the membership scholarship in Dr. John’s name, Lorien Reese Mahay expresses her gratitude by saying, “When I moved to Harrisburg back in 2021, Past President Betty Hungerford suggested that the first thing I had to do was to join the Rotary Club. Two years later, I was given the opportunity to apply for the Judson Fellowship, and I jumped at the chance. Because of the generosity of the Rotary Club of Harrisburg, I was able to join without placing a financial burden on my nonprofit theatre.

 

Since becoming a member, I have been privileged to get to know some of the most giving and kind individuals in Harrisburg. Through service days where we cleaned up a local park, to flipping pancakes to support Harrisburg school children, I have been honored to work alongside other businesses and individuals wanting to make a difference in our community.

 

What's more, I have been welcomed into a community of Rotarians who truly believe in the Rotary motto Service Above Self."

 

 

To honor this man’s personal commitment to service the Rotary Club of Harrisburg initiated the “Jumpin’ for John” Fellowship scholarship.

 

The fund provides for a Judson Fellow every year. Judson Fellows are not yet Rotarians who would help us build a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive club. Judson Fellows can be invited (at no cost) as a full member for one year (July-June) in the Rotary Club of Harrisburg.

 

Everyone can recommend a potential new member for a Judson Fellowship by simply sharing the candidate’s name with the board along with a brief statement on why the proposer is recommending the candidate.  (Should we provide Jean’s administrator e-mail contact information here?)

 

The Judson Fellowship program will build goodwill and better friendships in the community (and within our membership) by helping us to remember the contributions of Dr. John Judson and by providing a tangible action step to pursue diversity, equity, and inclusion in the Rotary Club of Harrisburg.

 

 

WHEREAS:  Dr. John had a never-ceasing; life-long hunger for education in all areas of his profession, his faith, his personal desire to benefit others and his love of Rotary.  His formal educational paths included: a BS in Chemistry from Villanova University, then an MD from Georgetown University (graduating cum laude) and his MPA in healthcare and public administration from Penn State University Middletown.  Medical education included a Surgical Residency at Yale New Haven Hospital.  During this period Dr. John spent three months as staff surgeon at the Hospital Albert Schweitzer in Deschapelles, Haiti where his never-ending health service to Haitians was ignited.  Dr. John also completed a Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery residency at the University of Utah.

WHEREAS: Dr. John jumpstarted his working career as founder and chief surgeon at the Surgical Associates of Blacksburg, VA (a continuing practice); then Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, TX; again, as a principal surgeon Berrien Cardiovascular Surgery, Benton Harbor Michigan; then Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeon in private practice in Harrisburg.  He went back to Haiti as Medical Director and Chief of Surgery at the Hospital Albert Schweitzer.  Later returning as Medical Director, Hamilton Health Center, Harrisburg; Physician, Emergency Medicine, Holy Spirit Hospital, Camp Hill; Adjunct Professor, Penn State University, Middletown; Consultant Physician of the MCARE fund followed by similar healthcare quality assurance consultation for the Department of State, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 

Dr. John additionally invested his unlimited energy and expertise working in developing nations including more than fifty-five visits volunteering as a surgeon in Haiti, Nicaragua and Poland.  You can see why many referred to Dr. John Judson as “Jumpin’ John.”

WHEREAS:  Dr. John’s definition of community service was not defined by borders, miles or maps. 

While mindful to his working positions, he also found purpose in actively serving with health improvement organizations.  Dr. John served on the boards of the World Surgical Foundation, Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Community Check Up Center. 

Locally, he served in leadership roles for the Catholic Worker House of Harrisburg and the United Way of the Capital Region.  Dr. John and his wife Ann Marie were presented the Tocqueville Society Award from the United Way of Central Pennslvania in 2011. 

He was first a member of the Capital City Rotary Club, then serving the Rotary Club of Harrisburg in committee and board positions before taking the office of President in 2010-11.  From there he served as 7390 District Governor 2014-15. 

Dr. John was also a member of the Rotary Club of St. Marc in his beloved country of Haiti.  To further define Dr. John’s love for the people of Haiti, he conducted more than 24 surgical mission trips with the majority to the Hospital Albert Schweitzer in Deschapelles.