Wilson Wilhite

Dr. Wilson Wilhite was born April 19, 1935, in Birmingham, Alabama, son of Wilson C. Wilhite, Sr., and Lorraine Gibbs. He is survived by Patricia Sewell Wilhite, his loving wife of 59 years, and his loving and caring daughter, Tiffany Patrice Wilhite of Birmingham. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Jennifer Wilhite Grissom. He is survived by Son-in-Law Dr. Larry Grissom and Sam Renta. He is also survived by his brother, Fred Wilhite.

Dr. Wilhite was a 1956 graduate of Samford University. Following graduation in 1960 from The Medical College of the University of Alabama, where he was a member of Phi Chi medical fraternity, he served an Internship at the University of Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital. In 1961, he volunteered to serve in the US Air Force and, with the rank of Captain, was stationed at Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas. There he was Chief of the Operating Room Section, Department of Surgery; a cardio-thoracic anesthesiologist and a senior member of White Eagle, a special operations unit, receiving the National Defense Service Medal for duty during the Vietnam conflict. He qualified as an expert small arms marksman and was a member of the Medical Center's Competition Pistol Team.

Following five years in the Air Force, he joined the faculty of the University of Alabama, School of Medicine, as Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology. In 1966 he joined the medical staff of the Methodist Medical Center in Birmingham, Alabama, as Chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology, and later served as President of the Medical Staff. After 22 years in private practice in Birmingham, Alabama, he returned to academic medicine as Professor of Anesthesiology at the University of Texas, School of Medicine, and was Executive Director of Operating Room Services at Hermann Hospital in Houston, Texas. He was named Outstanding Professor by the Anesthesiology Residents of the University of Texas in 1990 and 1991.

In 1991 he was recruited to the faculty of UCLA as Professor and Vice-Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology and Director of the Department of Operative Services for the UCLA Medical Center, retiring in 1997 as Professor Emeritus. Dr. Wilhite returned to the University of Texas as Professor of Anesthesiology, from which he retired in 2000.

After serving as Treasurer and Vice-President, and the Chair of multiple committees, he was elected President of the American Society of Anesthesiologists in 1994. Dr. Wilhite was a Diplomat of the American Board of Anesthesiology, a Fellow of the American College of Anesthesiologists, a Life Member of the Texas Society of Anesthesiologists, the American Society of Anesthesiologists and the Southern Medical Association; and an Honorary Life Member of the Alabama and American Societies of Post Anesthesia Nurses. He was a Past-President of the Alabama State Society of Anesthesiologists. For over 20 years, he served as a Delegate from the U.S. to the World Congress of Anesthesiologists. Following retirement, Dr. Wilhite pursued a passion for genealogy, and gave talks and wrote articles about his ancestors.