John P. Mchugh, Md

JOHN P. MCHUGH MD, 91 ROCKFORD - John P. McHugh MD, 91, of Rockford passed away Saturday, December 6, 2014, at Wesley Willows. Born on May 19, 1923, in Brooklyn, NY to John P. and Theresa (McDonagh) McHugh. John married Ellen L. McNeil on April 23, 1949, in Belvidere. He graduated from St. Michael's High School in 1942, in Brooklyn, NY and attended St. John's University until 1943. John then joined the Navy V-12 program and was sent to Holy Cross College in Worchester, Mass., in 1944, and later to St. Albans Naval Hospital in New York as a Navy corpsman for six months. John attended the University Of Illinois Medical School in Chicago from January of 1945 until his graduation in June of 1948. John completed his internship at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, IL from 1948 to 1949. Following his internship, John served a year at St. Albans Naval Hospital in Pulmonary Medicine as a Lt. Junior Grade Officer (Medical Corps). John was a General Practitioner/Family Medicine Physician in Rockford from 1950 until 1984. He then became Vice President of Medical Affairs at Rockford Memorial Hospital for six years. He was president of the Winnebago County Tuberculosis Association in 1962. John went to Washington, D.C. and participated in the Martin Luther King March on Washington in 1963. He was president of the Rockford Memorial Hospital medical staff in 1963, and was president of the Winnebago County Medical Society in 1970. John served on the Winnebago County Health Board for 25 years and was president of the board in 1973. In the 1970's he was instrumental in the founding of the Crusader Clinic. John was concerned with the death of alcoholics in our city jail so he and three other doctors served on a jail committee and helped establish the Detox Unit at Rockford Memorial Hospital, which then became the alcohol treatment program, ATEP. John was a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University Of Illinois Medical School in Rockford from 1975 to 1996. John was a founding board member of the Northern Illinois AIDS Resource Center. He helped organize the Black Health Organization to improve the health of the Rockford black population. His latest passion was Rockford Promise, an organization committed to providing scholarships for college education to all Rockford area public school students. John has received various honors and awards for his commitment to improve the health of infants, the homeless, and low income people in Winnebago County. In 1992, John was presented the Register Star's "Excalibur" award honoring people who have made a difference in our community. Survived by his wife, Ellen; daughters, Theresa (Lawrence) Palmersheim, Mary Ellen Lane, Eileen (Alan) Huston and Kathleen Gladys (Gregory) Reese; sons, John (Charlene) McHugh and Hugh (Lydia) McHugh; 11 grandchildren, Joseph (Karla), John Thomas, John Michael, Erin, Ellen, Patrick, Joshua, Alyssa, Anna, Amara and Jacob; great-grandchildren, Evelyn and Elise. Predeceased by parents; grandson, Brian Thomas Lane and sisters, Marguerite Mattson and Eileen Gallagher. His infectious wit, his optimism and his caring spirit will missed by all who knew him. A special thanks to the staff of Wesley Willows and VNA Hospice who helped John so greatly during his illness. Visitation will be from 9 to 11 a.m. Thursday, December 11, at St. Bernadette Catholic Church, 2400 Bell Ave. Rockford, Illinois 61103, with funeral Mass to follow at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Rockford Promise c/o Sikich and Associates, Suite 100, 6815 Weaver Road, Rockford IL 61114 or Crusader Clinic, 1100 Broadway, Rockford, IL 61104. To express online condolences, please visit: www.fitzgeraldfh.com - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/rrstar/obituary.aspx?n=john-mchugh&pid=173409851#sthash.3I7qXbXF.dpuf