Sophie Jan Womack, 53 - pioneering neonatologist dies following surgery
Kathi
February 17, 2008
By AMBER HUNT
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Jimmy Womack knew soon after meeting Sophie Thompson that he’d someday
marry her.
He also knew he wouldn’t be able to keep up with her ambitious nature,
so the marriage would have to wait a few years.
“I knew I could not manage that relationship and successfully complete
medical school,” Womack said with a soft laugh today. “So our first
year after graduation, I proposed.”
Sophie Jan Womack, who broke boundaries in Michigan’s medical
landscape for both black women and women in general, died early Sunday
of complications from surgery. She was 53.
Womack, a neonatologist, was elected the first black president of the
Wayne County Medical Society of Michigan. She also was the vice
president of medical affairs for Harper University Hospital and Hutzel
Women’s Hospital — the first woman to hold the position in the Detroit
Medical Center system.
Her sudden loss is a blow to the community, said Carla Scott,
president of the Detroit Public Schools’ board of education, of which
Jimmy Womack is a member.
“She contributed so much to our society,” Scott said. “She’s an
example to women — specifically black women, but women in general.
“She was a mother and so often women feel they can’t achieve and also
be parents. She did both.”
On Sunday, the Womacks’ home was filled with family members and
friends. The death was a shock as Sophie Womack had been recovering
well from surgery Friday at Sinai-Grace Hospital.
At 1:30 a.m., she was up and eating pineapple in her room, Jimmy
Womack said. When a nurse stopped by at about 3 a.m. to do a routine
vitals check, Womack was dead.
Jimmy Womack’s phone rang about 3:30 a.m. He was told only to come to
the hospital. As a doctor himself, he knew then his wife was dead.
“I have to be strong for my daughters,” he said. “We just didn’t
expect this.”
The Womacks have two daughters — 21-year-old Brandi and 20-year-old
Ashley. She also is survived by four sisters and a brother, as well as
her mother, Irene Thompson.
Jimmy Womack, who met his future wife while both were students at
Meharry Medical College in Nashville, said he’ll forever be proud of
his wife’s many accomplishments.
“Sophie is a no-nonsense kind of woman,” he said. “She would say that
to whom much was given, much was required.”
The family plans to have an autopsy conducted Friday. Funeral
arrangements haven’t been finalized.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080217/NEWS08/80217037
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