The Ohio Academy of Family Physicians (OAFP) sadly announces that OAFP Past President P. Tennyson Williams, MD, FAAFP, 96 years old and after a vibrant life and career as a family physician, husband, and father, passed from his assignment here on earth to a new one in heaven on January 13, 2021.
Born January 11, 1925, Paul Tennyson, known his whole life as “Tenny,” was born to 2 high school teachers, H. Dana and Kathryn Williams, in Hillsboro, OH. His father would later farm polled herefords and seed corn, where Tenny finished out his schooling. It was in 7th grade, at the inspiration of his science teacher, that he decided he wanted to be a doctor of medicine.
After graduating from Wilmington High School, he entered Western Reserve University to pursue his premed education. Military service in the army interrupted that plan briefly and he was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy, attending for one year before he returned to Western Reserve University, graduating from medical school in 1951. In the midst of his education, he married Marianna Hamilton in 1947. Her special visits to see him at the Naval Academy led to this special union of souls.
After a hospital internship in 1952, Tenny began his private family practice in Delaware, OH. He became a beloved family physician to many, including football team physician to Delaware Hayes High school. You could spot him on the sideline in his red sport cap! He was an active community leader in Delaware, Jay-Cees being one of many civic activities.
In 1974, Dr. Williams was appointed as the first professor and chair of the Department of Family Medicine at The Ohio State University (OSU), and as a result, initiated the Family Medicine Residency Program, making it the first university-based residency program in the state. He continued at OSU, retiring in 1997, changing his lifelong learning from medicine to photography, a hobby he discovered in 1944 and continued to cultivate throughout his life. He especially enjoyed creating radiographic images using an x-ray machine, and was prolific in photographing flowers, zoo animals, architecture, and people locally and worldwide from his extensive travels. His work was displayed in many exhibits and galleries throughout the Columbus, OH, area. His other passion was jazz—going to jazz groups, listening, and taking photos of jazz players and singers.
His family and friends remember the twinkle in his eye and that ornery grin, indicating he either had something up his sleeve or a funny comment to make. His wit and wisdom followed him throughout each season of his life. His medical career impacted the fabric of primary care medicine. As a husband and dad, he has impacted three generations. “Mistakes are learning opportunities,” said Tenny.
He leaves a lasting legacy to his four surviving children, Tracey Parrott of Savannah, GA; Shelle Lindholm of Kalispell, MT; Dayna Serna of Layton, UT; and Matthew Tennyson of Ostrander, OH. His 10 grandchildren and 22 great grandchildren are blessed to have known such a wonderful grandpa. His wife, Nancy, will miss the loving companionship they enjoyed for the last six years. He is preceded in death by his first wife, Marianna Williams; his sister, Emily Hoover; brother-in-law, Harry Hoover; and his second wife, Ann.
A celebration of life will be planned for a future date.
Donations in honor of Dr. Tennyson Williams may be made to the Alzheimer’s Research & Prevention Foundation or The Stephanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research.
The OAFP has made a memorial gift in his memory to the OAFP Foundation.
Dr.Williams was a founding father of our Family Practice specialty. His contributions are legendary. My father Alford Diller MD was one of his contempories and always spoke so highly of Dr. Williams. His legacy lives on in all the physicians he helped train and serve as a role model. Please accept my condolences.
Tenny was full of energy and creative ideas, just what we needed at the beginning of the specialty of Family Medicine. He exemplified the key traits of a Family Physician with his willingness to tackle tough problems, his ability to perform well in an environment of uncertainty, his smile and optimism in the face of adversity, and his encouragement of all those whose lives he touched. He continued teaching us on how to live after retirement, approaching it as another phase in life to be experienced to the fullest. Well done, Dr. Williams! Family Medicine benefitted greatly form your time with us, and we join your family in celebrating your very full life.
Tenny Williams, MD, was a true light in the world of Family Medicine. He mentored many of us and was encouraging, optimistic and always instilled a love of our specialty in everyone he met. He reminded us that, as we practiced Family Medicine, we could also be preparing the next generation of the ‘Family of Family Physicians’. He was on a mission to help each of us be medical educators. He wanted medical students to see the joy that is Family Medicine and to carry on the legacy of our beloved specialty. Not surprisingly, he loved the arts and his photography is yet another gift to us from this inspiring family physician.