Dr. Henry Smith Jennings, Jr.

Henry Smith Jennings, Jr., M.D., died peacefully on March 2, 2017, at Lanier Village Estates in Gainesville, Georgia, after a brief illness. Dr. Jennings was preceded in death by his wife, Elizabeth Martin Jennings; his parents Lillian Cannon Jennings and Henry Smith Jennings, Sr.; and his siblings Joe Cannon Jennings and Robert Mansfield Jennings. He is survived by his daughter The Rev. Elizabeth Jennings Powell, M.D. (husband The Rev. David Brickman Powell), his son Henry Smith Jennings, III, M.D. (wife Polly Cooper Jennings), his granddaughters Mary Bailey Jennings (husband David Christopher Felipe) and Kelsey Powell Powers (husband Ryan Spencer Powers); his great-granddaughter, Eliza Dawn Felipe; numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews, and so many loving friends who became like family to him as well.

Dr. Jennings was born in Cordele, Georgia, May 22, 1922, and spent his early childhood in both Cordele and Brunswick, Georgia. His family later moved to Dawson, Georgia.

He attended Emory-at-Oxford and Emory University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1943. He was a member of the Emory Glee Club and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Dr. Jennings matriculated to Emory University School of Medicine where in 1945 he received his Doctor of Medicine degree. He was a member of Phi Chi Medical Fraternity.  Dr. Jennings subsequently served his internship in surgery at Grady Memorial Hospital, after which he fulfilled a commitment to the U.S. Army Air Corps at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, from 1946 to 1948, serving as Chief of the Medical Service.  In 1948, Dr. Jennings returned to Atlanta and completed an assistant residency in Internal Medicine at Lawson VA Hospital. The following year, Dr. Jennings was invited to serve as Chief Resident at Emory University Hospital. In 1951 he was invited to join Emory’s Private Diagnostic Clinic. Dr. Jennings subsequently became one of the seventeen original founding physicians of The Emory Clinic under the leadership of Hugh Wood, M.D.

In 1953, the Jennings decided to move their young family to a smaller community. Several of Dr. Jennings’ Emory-trained colleagues were already practicing medicine in Hall County and they persuaded Dr. Jennings to move to Gainesville to establish his own practice of internal medicine joining the growing medical community at Hall County Hospital, later to become the Northeast Georgia Medical Center. He and his family set down roots in Gainesville that remain intact to this day.  Dr. Jennings' original solo practice office was a small brick house on Broad Street near the recently built Hall County Hospital facility.  His early medical practice also took him on “house calls” to the homes of his patients all over Northeast Georgia.

In 1954, Dr. Jennings became the first board certified internist at Hall County Hospital. He was soon joined by Emory colleagues Samuel Poole, M.D., and Warren Stribling, III, M.D. These three formed the initial core partnership of physicians known as “Jennings, Stribling, and Poole.” Soon, James Butts, M.D., joined the trio and the practice became “Jennings, Stribling, Poole, and Butts.” Growing steadily in physicians and patients over the decades, the practice eventually became the highly respected Northeast Georgia Diagnostic Clinic, consisting today of over thirty physicians (along with ten mid-level care providers) specializing in internal medicine along with numerous internal medicine sub-specialties. In addition to the responsibilities of his medical practice, Dr. Jennings was always active in local, state, and national medical organizations over the past 60+ years. He served as Chief of the Medical Staff at Hall County Hospital/Northeast Georgia Medical Center, President of the Hall County Medical Society, Vice President of the Medical Association of Georgia, and President of the Georgia Society of Internal Medicine. Dr. Jennings was Charter Member and subsequently President of the Georgia Heart Association. Additionally, he served as Delegate for the Georgia Heart Association to the American Medical Association meetings on several occasions. He was an active member of the Southern Medical Association and the American College of Physicians. Deeply dedicated to the education of healthcare providers, Dr. Jennings served on the adjunct faculty of Hall School of Nursing which later became Brenau University School of Nursing, and he was proud of the many nursing students who were influenced by his guidance as they became healthcare providers themselves. Dr. Jennings served on the Organizational Steering Committee for the Appalachian Georgia Health Systems Agency. He was a District Medical Consultant for Vocational Rehabilitation.

He was instrumental in the formation of the Gainesville Heart Clinic in the 1950s under the aegis of the Georgia Heart Association, which served patients of the area with cardiac disorders who did not have access to adequate cardiology care. He served as Chairman of the Clinic Committee of the GHA, traveling to similar heart clinics throughout Georgia, including Dalton, Valdosta, Waycross, Brunswick, and Athens, in addition to the Gainesville Heart Clinic, where he volunteered several hours every Tuesday. Involvement in numerous community organizations and civic efforts in Hall County and Northeast Georgia was a priority for Dr. Jennings. He served faithfully in leadership roles of his church, the Gainesville First United Methodist Church, including Chairman of the Administrative Board. He also served on numerous other local community boards, including Board of Directors of the Rotary Club of Gainesville, Board of Commissioners of the Georgia Housing Authority, Board of Trustees of the Gainesville-Hall County Hospital Authority, Board of Trustees for Brenau University, Board of Directors of the Gainesville National Bank, Advisory Board of Directors for First Atlanta National Bank, Board of Trustees/Vice Chairman for Northeast Georgia Health Systems, Advisory Board of Directors for Wachovia Bank, Medical Advisor to the U.S. Social Security Administrative Law Judges, Board of Directors for Lanier Village Estates/ACTS Retirement Community as well as its Founding Committee.

After 42 years of medical practice, Dr. Jennings retired from active practice in June 1987. One of Dr. Jennings’ guiding principles in life was “Touch What Hurts.” He used that slogan as he taught medical students and residents at Emory and nursing students at Brenau. Remarkable changes occurred over the years in medicine during Dr. Jennings’ career spanning 1945-1987.  More than anything else, he felt that an engaged doctor-patient relationship should be fundamental to providing medical care. Throughout his life, Dr. Jennings recognized the importance of caring compassion and attention to the needs of others. It was a foundational principle that he passed on to his children and grandchildren.

A memorial service in celebration of Dr. Jennings’ life will be held at Gainesville First United Methodist Church on March 8, 2017, at 2:00pm, with Rev. Scott Hearn officiating. A private interment of ashes for the immediate family in the church’s columbarium will precede the service. After the service the family will receive friends in the church’s Gathering Hall. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Gainesville First United Methodist Church, 2780 Thompson Bridge Rd, Gainesville, GA, 30506, www.gfumc.com; The Medical Center Foundation’s James H. Downey Society at Northeast Georgia Medical Center; The Forever Gold Fund of Brenau University; The Fund for Emory Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine; or the charity of choice.

Those wishing to send online condolences may do so at www.littledavenport.com.  Or condolences may be sent to the family in care of Betsy Jennings Powell, P.O. Box 467, Selma, AL 36702.

Little & Davenport Funeral Home & Crematory, 355 Dawsonville Hwy., Gainesville, GA  30501