John J. Hand MD, FACP (Jack) passed into eternal life on August 20th, 2024. He was the beloved husband of Mary Anne (Killea) Hand for sixty-four years. He was the son of the late John J. Hand Sr. and Agnes (Sullivan) Hand. Jack was born in Newport Hospital on December 17th, 1936, but spent most of his young life in The Bronx, NY.
Jack was a man of great faith and love of God. He was faithful in always renewing his promise of Oblation to the Benedictines at Portsmouth Abbey. He attended daily Mass for years and served as a Eucharistic Minister in many churches.
Jack was the product of Jesuit education attending Fordham Preparatory School and earned academic and athletic scholarships to Fordham University. He earned his medical degree from Georgetown University and completed his internship and internal medicine residency in the United States Navy. During the course of his twenty-two-year Naval career Jack served at five Naval Hospitals, the last being at Newport RI, where he was president of the staff. He was the founder of the Health Risk Appraisal Program at the Naval War College in Newport. He received the US Navy Meritorious Service Medal in 1993.
During his civilian medical career Jack was on the staff of the Aquidneck Medical Center in Newport where he was president from 1978-1980. He was on the Board of Directors of the American Heart Association from 1973-1977 and the Board of Directors of the RI Joint Underwriters Association from 1976-1982. He has been an incorporator of Newport Hospital from 1974 until the present. Jack was the Director of Adult Medicine at the Greater New Bedford Health Center and on the attending staff of St. Luke’s Hospital from 1993-1998. Jack was the physician for the Island Health Project on Fishers Island, NY from June 1999 – September 2005. Following that, he continued to practice medicine locally for ten years. Jack was a Fellow of the American College of Physicians since 1992.
Jack was a man with many interests and loves. He was an avid reader of history, philosophy, theology and sports. He always had a good baseball story to tell and was a die hard fan of the NY Giants and went into mourning when they moved to San Francisco. More recently he was a fan of the Boston Red Sox. Jack ran 42 marathons, including 15 consecutive Boston Marathons from 1981-1995 that he completed in three hours or under. He also ran in numerous RI Senior Olympics and National Senior Olympics.
The most important part of Jack’s life was his family. With the love of his life, his wife Mary Anne, he built a beautiful family who were devoted to him. He was the loving father of Eileen Hand Hughes, Jeanne Sullivan (Dan), Patrick Hand (Elyse), Sharon Keating (Chris), and Peter Hand. Jack was predeceased by his beloved son John J. Hand III.
He was Pop-Pop to thirteen grandchildren, Christopher and Patrick Hughes; Doreen, John, Mary Lyn, Elizabeth, Daniel and Kevin Sullivan; Emily and Sophie Hand; Michael, Lily and Julia Keating, and great-grandfather to Shiloh Thomas Sullivan-Theroux. He also leaves his cousin Anne Mills of Newport and many nieces and nephews.
His family meant everything to him, and he loved God, his family, and his country.
Visiting hours will be 3-6pm on Sunday August 25th at Connors Funeral Home, 55 West Main Rd, Portsmouth RI. A mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10am on Monday August 26th at St. Barnabas Church, 1697 East Main Rd, Portsmouth RI. Burial with military honors will follow at St. Columba’s Cemetery 465 Browns Lane, Middletown RI.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions to Tunnel to Towers, 2361 Hylan Blvd, Staten Island NY 10306 or St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Pl., Memphis, TN 38105-9959 will be appreciated.
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