John I. Fishburne Jr. ’59

John died Aug. 7, 2025.  

Charleston born, John’s Foreign Service father introduced him to three languages and 13 schools before settling at Lawrenceville, from which he entered Princeton. A chemistry major and Pre-Med Society member, John dined at Tower and roomed with Tom Kerr, Don Frazer, and Harold Springer. 

A doctorate from South Carolina Medical College, internship at Duke, and a two-year Air Force medical officer tour led John to the University of North Carolina and Wake Forest, culminating in 14 years at the University of Oklahoma. Who’s Who in America listed John’s many honors and the professional associations he chaired such as being board certified in obstetrics and gynecology, anesthesiology, and maternal and fetal medicine, and being OB/GYN department chairman for eight years in the same position at Arizona’s Maricopa Medical Center. Esteemed both nationally and internationally, most remarkably a medical lecture in Moscow led to a Russian father giving John his Order of Lenin. 

John loved people, golf, tennis, ice cream, stealing rides in Air Force jets, and worldwide travel (frequently with ’59 Tigers), with his wife of 64 years, Jean.  

To Jean; his children, John, Barron, and Virginia; and his four grandchildren, the class extends deepest sympathy.