Chattanooga has been richly blessed by the work of many outstanding medical professionals over the decades. One of those professionals was Chattanooga native Dr. Woodruff Banks Jr., who died Jan. 2 at the age of 80.

He came from a family with a strong medical heritage. His father founded Physicians and Surgeons Hospital on McCallie Avenue in 1924.

Banks was a 1949 graduate of McCallie School and fittingly was presented the McCallie School Alumni Achievement Award in 1999. He graduated from Tulane University and the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in Memphis.

He was the chief general surgery resident at Baroness Erlanger Hospital and served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. He served as secretary of the medical staff at Memorial Hospital and chief of surgery at Erlanger. He also served as president of the Chattanooga Hamilton County Medical Society and as chairman of the Memorial Hospital board of directors. Just last May, he received the Memorial Health Care System Humanitarian Award.

Banks was a member of First-Centenary United Methodist Church. He is survived by his wife, Marjorie Upham Banks, and by many other family members.

His service to the Chattanooga community will long be remembered.