James P. Smith, Jr. MD
INTERLAKEN - James P. Smith, Jr., MD, pioneer of lung cancer screening, died peacefully at his home in Interlaken, NJ, on March 25, 2024. He was 89.
Born in Elberon, NJ, on December 1, 1934, to James P., Sr., and Carolyn Smith (Musto), and raised in Asbury Park, NJ, his father was a storied Asbury entrepreneur who owned or operated amusements and concessions on and around the boardwalk in its heyday.
A graduate of St. Rose High School in Belmar, NJ, he received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Georgetown University in Washington, DC (Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society), and did his internship and residency training at what was then New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center and his fellowship in Pulmonary Disease at Cornell University Medical College on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
Following the construction of the Berlin Wall (aka the “Berlin Crisis”), he served as a Captain and Assistant Chief of Medicine in the U.S. Army, 79th Engineer Battalion, in Pirmasens, Germany. During his tour, he took part in Operation Home Run (Nov. 1963-Feb.1964) assisting the victims of a devasting earthquake in Skopje, former Yugoslavia. He also met Elizabeth Julia Fink, his future bride and the love his life, who was teaching the children of U.S. Army personnel at the American School. They were engaged in St. Moritz, married in Minnesota in 1964 and moved to Manhattan.
Dr. Smith was an Attending Physician at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and The Hospital for Special Surgery. His groundbreaking career in medicine spanned more than half a century. He was a founder of the International Early Lung Cancer Action Project, which pioneered the use of low radiation dose chest CT for lung cancer screening. This led to numerous publications setting the stage for a study by the National Cancer Institute that validated the findings, resulting in the widespread use of this technique, which has since dramatically increased long-term survival rates and saved many thousands of lives.
Prior to that, he was a pioneer in the treatment of tuberculosis, including the use of closed pleural biopsy to diagnose the disease, and of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, championing the use of low dose oxygen. He was also one of the first physicians to recognize liver toxicity from certain TB medications and founded one of the first pulmonary intensive care units in the country, leading to the widespread use of mechanical ventilators. And he was among the first to use the extracorporeal membrane oxygenator (ECMO), which has recently been used to treat severe respiratory failure from COVID 19.
A Clinical Professor of Medicine at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, he gave back generously to the medical community as teacher and mentor to generations of young doctors, through his work as Secretary of the American Lung Association and the American Thoracic Society and President of the New York Lung Association, and through five decades of clinical practice in Manhattan.
In private practice, he was the personal physician to Manhattan socialites, professional athletes, stars of stage and screen and even kings, but always made time for anyone – family, friends or friends of friends – who came to him seeking his medical wisdom, guidance or help. He was perennially named one of the best doctors in America, but was most humbled by the awards he received for “bedside manner.” Anyone who had the privilege to know him, whether professionally or personally, understands how well he merited this recognition.
He has been described as a “legend” and an “inspiration” who “lived a beautiful and full life” and will be remembered for his “incredible legacy,” “the wisdom he imparted, the stories he shared, the desire to engage with others and the pure love for life” -- and as an unparallelled “role model” as a husband, father and grandfather.
Apart from his family, friends and medicine, his great loves were deep sea fishing and the New York Football Giants.
Dr. Smith was predeceased by his beloved wife Elizabeth (Fink) in 2019, and his daughter Stephanie. He leaves three loving and devoted children, Susan Smith Mitchell (Douglas) of Highland Ranch, CO, James P. Smith III (Kathleen) of Summit, NJ, and Patricia Smith Barrett (Daniel) of Chatham, NJ, as well as ten adoring grandchildren, Sarah, Morgan, James P., IV (“Jack”), Matthew, Charles, Clare, Owen, Patrick, Georgia and Hugh, his sister Janet Carton (James D.) of Brielle, and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
Viewing will be held on Monday, April 1, 2024, from 4-8 pm at O’Brien Funeral Home, Wall, NJ. A Mass of Catholic burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, at 10 am at St. Mary’s Church of Our Lady of Hope Parish, Deal. Burial to follow at St. Catharine’s Cemetery, Sea Girt.
Donations may be made to the New York-Presbyterian Fund at http:// www.nyp.org/giving, noting “Medical CAC - in memory of Dr. James P. Smith.” The CAC provides funding for patient care, research, humanitarian and educational projects.
For more information & condolences, visit www.OBrienFuneralHome.com.