Dr. Thomas Russell Hendrix

Thomas Russell Hendrix, M.D. died at Johns Hopkins Hospital on December 23, 2013. A Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Johns Hopkins Medical School, the first full time Director of the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology at Johns Hopkins, he led the Division for 31 years, also serving for many years as the Chair of the Johns Hopkins Joint Committee on Clinical Investigation. He saw his primary role as an educator and has influenced the medical education of many students, fellows and house staff over the years. His belief in patient care and treating the whole patient touched many who came to Hopkins for treatment. In addition to expertly guiding medical students and staff in their understanding of digestive diseases, Dr. Hendrix is widely recognized for his own scientific contributions, having published over 120 original articles and numerous book chapters. He was one of the first investigators to demonstrate the value of the gluten-free diet in patients with celiac disease. He served as the President of the American Gastroenterological Association from 1983 to 1984 and is a member emeritus of the Interurban Club and the American Clinical & Climatological Association He was born in Fort Ancient, Ohio in 1920, moving to Tarzana, California in 1926. During his five years of service in the U.S. Navy, he attained the rank of Lt. Commander, serving on the staff of Admiral Nimitz, Commander of the Pacific Fleet and later as the navigator and communications officer on a destroyer escort, the U.S.S. Mitchell. He married the late Sonia Arusell in 1945, finished his B.A. at U.C.L.A. and moved to Baltimore to attend Johns Hopkins Medical School, graduating in 1951, serving on the house staff at Hopkins, followed by a fellowship at Boston University. He returned to Baltimore and Hopkins in 1957 as Director of the Gastroenterology & Hepatology Division of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. In retirement in Chestertown, MD, he enjoyed sailing, model boat building, gardening, writing and continuing his education in the humanities at Washington College. He is survived by his daughter, Carla and her husband, Peter Cecil of Elizabethtown, NY; his son, Eric and his wife, Jeanne of North Myrtle Beach, SC; his son, Paul and his wife, Julie of Chestertown, MD; his son, Mark of Berkeley, CA and his daughter, Ingrid of Albuquerque, NM; his brother John Hendrix and his wife, Joan of Fort Collins, CO and his sister, Mary Thorpe and her husband, Dodd of Fiddletown, CA. Donations in Thomas R. Hendrix’s memory may be made to the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Dr. Thomas Russell Hendrix

October 17, 1920 - December 23, 2013