“And when I think of the many friends so linked together I’ve seen around me fall like leaves in wintry weather … ”
Thomas Moore
One of the American Clinical and Climatological Association's finest gentlemen and scholars John Phillip Utz, or “Jack,” as he liked to be called, left us on April 4, 2006. Jack's Irish-German heritage spawned a terrifically likable and accomplished person. He had a great sense of humor, and anyone fortunate enough to know him always enjoyed his warm, friendly personality. He and his charming wife, Dorothy, thoroughly enjoyed The Association's medical and social gatherings; and while he was well, I don’t believe they ever missed a meeting or passed up an opportunity to party, especially to dance. Jack loved to fox trot, and his and Dorthy's faces would literally light up when that opportunity arose.
Jack was born June 9, 1922, in Rochester, Minnesota and graduated with honors at age 16 from Rochester High School. He attended the Univesity of Notre Dame (1940–1943), and then Northwestern University (1943–1946), where he received his BS and MD degrees and subsequently a commission in the U.S. Army and U.S. Public Health Service. He interned at the Massachusetts Memorial (now Boston University) Hospital, and then became a Researcher at the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases (1947–1949), National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethesda, and received a Master's Degree (Bacteriology) at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. Afterwards, he became a Fellow in Medicine (1949–1952) at the Mayo Foundation in Rochester, Minnesota.
His rapid ascendancy in Medicine and Infectious Diseases followed. From 1952 to 1965, he was Chief of the Infectious Disease Service at NIH, and in 1965, was recruited by one of our former, deceased members, T. Thompson, to become the first Chief of the Division of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) with the rank of Professor of Medicine. There, he attracted a cadre of outstanding researchers and clinicians, and built one of the foremost Infectious Diseases and Mycology groups in the world. He was bright, ambitious, prescient and incredibly industrious. Everyone working within his group was familiar with seeing Jack arrive at his office before 6 am, already having taken a long walk, been to Mass and having digested a host of scientific articles that they never had found time to read. He was one of the founding members of the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) and a principle founder of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID), of which he was the first President.
His knowledge of mycology, especially clinical mycology, was world renown. Again, with his prescience, he fostered and labored in a discipline which few appreciated or thought might be important. He was ahead of his time, and what was surprising to no one, he knew it. The laboratory he built, with the help of his close friends Drs. Jean and Smith Shadomy, became a reference center to which many investigators, both in this country and abroad, sent their unknown isolates for identification and study or which they called upon for help. Jack was responsible for, or was involved in, the clinical development of almost every anti-fungal agent used today.
Jack and his friend and hero, Chester Emmons, co-authored with Chapman Binford and K.J. Kwong-Chung “the bible” of clinical and laboratory mycology, which today many of us still use and refer to frequently. The Third Edition proudly sits over my desk, worn out from frequent use. During his career, Jack published over 120 scientific, peer-reviewed papers and 77 chapters and books (at a time when no one had word processors). He was a marvelous researcher and clinician and was especially gifted at therapeutics. He conducted and demanded carefully controlled, randomized, non-biased studies that were well conceived and well executed. His work was trusted, and its quality respected. He was an “eternal optimist”. He told me many times after exhaustive trials of promising new agents failed, “In this arena, there is no room for pessimists.” Jack was a superb writer and communicator, and he strongly believed that it was physicians’ and scientists’ duty to share with the medical and scientific community their observations and data as soon as possible.
For those like myself, who loved working for Jack, he was inspirational. He never pushed, and he never harassed. He gave everyone a long leash to show what they were capable of doing. I never heard him say a harsh word to anyone. Yet in his quiet, effective way, everyone knew he expected their best, and everyone tried to give it to him. He handled everyone with respect; he had a special charismatic way of encouraging productivity. He was a born leader.
For many years Jack was a Visiting Scientist at the Pasteur Institute of Paris. He loved French cuisine, French wines, and anything that was French. He spoke French fluently, and one day every week, his work would come to a halt, so he could spend a few hours to brush up on his French with his language teacher. Others and myself were quick to know when Jack was about to depart for a brief sabbatical in Paris, as he would have Dorothy and their five children (who he often took with him) converse in French, not only to each other, but to anyone who crossed their threshold. Having dinner with Jack as a guest in his home was thoroughly enjoyable, as Jack, Dorothy and their children were gracious and marvelous hosts. There was always a plethora of European culture and conversation about his table.
In 1973, at the height of his career, Jack was appointed Dean of the School of Medicine at one of his alma maters, Georgetown University. Although those close to Jack were happy for him, we were all sad about his departure from Richmond and MCV, for everyone knew we and MCV had lost a real jewel. Nevertheless, all of us were secretly pleased, for we knew he would be happy being close to his beloved Redskins, whose home games he never missed.
Jack is survived by his wife Dorothy and his five wonderful and devoted children, Christopher (Kit) J., Charles M., Jane Utz Hamilton, Jonathan P., and Stephen P.; his brothers Philip H. Utz, MD, who was a general practitioner in LaCross, Wisconsin and David C. Utz, MD, who was Chief of Urology at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota; and his grand children Sarah Hamilton Tromly, John F. Hamilton, Mary Katherine Hamilton, John Phillip Utz, II, James T. Utz, and Zachary C. Utz.
In 2007, the Boards of Directors and Trustees of the NFID posthumously created a special award, The John P. Utz Leadership Award, to honor his name and deeds. Dr Donald Poretz, then President of the IDSA, recent past President of the NFID, and formerly one of Jack's many Fellows, was its first recipient.
About the lives of men such as Jack Utz, I suspect Ovid, the famous Roman poet described it best in his attempt to console Livia: “The deeds of the Leader shall live, and the hard won glory of his exploits; this endures, this alone escapes the greedy destruction of death.”
I miss Jack, and I know that all who knew him do also. Jack Utz was a wonderful gentleman, husband, father, physician, teacher, researcher, respected member of our Association, and most importantly to me, my friend and mentor.