Obituaries
MEMPHIS - Dr. Susan Gail Thurmond, MD, passed away on November 6th, 2023. The Senior Vice President and Chief Quality and Safety Officer at Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, Dr. Thurmond lived life fully and passionately, and was planning her next adventures up to her last moments. When asked the meaning of life, she simply responded, ‘doing stuff.’ Her life was filled with rich and meaningful experiences. She was a consummate leader, providing help for those around her to succeed. She loved her people deeply, and she was always ready to support them in any capacity.
Raised in Memphis, TN, Dr. Thurmond, was the only daughter of her late parents, Robert Thurmond and Jean Thurmond Sibley. They were the wind in her sails. She claimed that she owed all of her successes in life to the love and devotion they showered upon her. In 1968, she graduated as valedictorian from White Station High School, where she participated in numerous extracurricular activities and had an active social life.
Whenever an obstacle appeared in her path, she did whatever she needed to overcome, get around, or go through that challenge. As an example, when she decided she wanted to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), she lacked a credential in physics. She bought a book, studied, and then took a test to give her the necessary requirement to attend. She aced it.
After graduating from MIT in 1972, where she made quite an impression as one of less than 70 women in a class of 1,000, she returned to Memphis in exchange for a red Ford Mustang. Her father expertly used the car as a bargaining tool, convincing her to return home to study medicine at the University of Tennessee. While there, she met many of her lifelong friends and colleagues, and she would often recount stories of the many experiences they shared.
Dr. Thurmond had an accomplished career in medicine. She practiced neurology in both Boston and Memphis. She was a founding member of the
Blackwell Women’s Medical Group, the first all-women’s multi-disciplinary medical group in Boston. After having children, she moved back to Memphis, where she started her own neurology practice at St. Francis Hospital.
She then changed tacks and began a profession in healthcare administration. She served in many executive roles at both Health Choice and Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, leading teams of extraordinary people in driving change, all toward continuous improvement and efficiency. Simultaneously soft-spoken and fierce, her ability to distill crisis and disorganization into harmony and order was truly unmatched. She was very proud to be a part of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare’s journey in achieving organizational success in clinical excellence, by incorporating and instilling evidence-based practice for patient safety, leading to the receipt of multiple awards for the hospital system. She was deeply passionate about her work and cared immensely for the people with whom she worked.
She was a brilliant and independent woman who knew how to do many things. If she didn’t have a particular skill, she would figure it out herself or make friends with someone who had the knowledge she needed.
In her lifetime, she accumulated education, skills, certifications, friendships, and stories. She was a world-traveler, an athlete, an art collector, and an avid reader. She was both a licensed sailor and a SCUBA diving instructor, spending as much time as she could on the water. Her favorite place was on a boat, with the people she loved, listening to Jimmy Buffet.
The mark she left on the world and those who knew her is deep and wide-reaching.
She leaves behind her three loving children Lara Gordon, Robert Gordon, and Sara Gordon and her granddogs, Dora, Lola and Otis.
Dr. Thurmond’s family held a Celebration of Life in her honor at the Golsmith’s Room at the Botanic Gardens of Memphis Sunday, November 12, 2023.
In lieu of flowers, her family requests over-tipping service staff, going to a local restaurant for your favorite meal with loved ones, petting a dog, or donating to the Humane Society in her honor.