Dr. Henry Brown Tyler

Dr. Henry Brown Tyler passed away on February 21, 2023. A nationally recognized cardiac surgeon, Henry practiced medicine for 35 years in Jackson, Mississippi, performing more than 4,000 surgeries during his career. In 1970 he co-founded the cardiovascular surgical program at the Mississippi Baptist Hospital. In 1973 he became an original senior member of Jackson’s Cardiovascular Surgical Clinic. In 1974 he launched St. Dominic-Jackson Memorial Hospital’s heart surgery program, performing St. Dominic’s first open-heart surgery that same year. Ultimately, he helped create the Mississippi Heart Institute.

In 1972 Henry was married to Ginger Murphree. The couple shared one daughter, Tiffany Lee Tyler, who was born on November 17, 1974. Two of Henry’s happiest moments came when Tiffany gave birth to his granddaughter, Tyler Bell on May 26, 2015, and when she gave birth to his grandson, Henry Benjamin on January 11, 2017.

Henry was born on May 26,1935, at the Greenwood Leflore Hospital in Greenwood, Mississippi, to Maurice Francis Tyler Sr. and Ina Kuykendall Brown Tyler. Henry grew up in his beloved native home of Drew, Mississippi. He was educated in the Drew public school system, which he credited for supplying him with a rigorous education that opened pathways to future success.

When Henry was six, his mother died. His father had to spend much time in Memphis due to health reasons and his two siblings were away at school, so babysitters cared for Henry until he was around 10, when his father’s unmarried sister, Stella, moved to Drew to be with Henry.

As a youth, Henry learned the value of hard work through numerous part-time and full-time summer jobs including delivering milk, cutting lawns and clerking in a general store. Henry credited these job opportunities with helping him gain a strong work ethic.

Henry helped lead the Drew Eagle football team to several Delta Valley Conference football championships. He also played high-school baseball and basketball. His senior year, he was named all-conference and co-captain of the football team. In 1953 he accepted an offer to play football at Vanderbilt University. He played on the varsity Commodore team four straight years and became a star player. His junior year, the Commodores defeated the Auburn Tigers in the Gator Bowl.

Additionally at Vanderbilt, Henry pledged Phi Delta Theta fraternity, serving both as pledge trainer and president. He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry with minors in biology and philosophy. He was named to the honor societies Phi Beta Kappa, Omicron Delta Kappa, and Phi Eta Sigma.

Henry completed Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1961 followed by a one year internship at Vanderbilt Medical Center. Then from 1962 to 1967 he completed residencies at Harvard Medical School at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and at Children’s Medical Center.

Possessing a great love for his native state, Henry declined offers to remain at Harvard and elected to return home to Mississippi where he joined Dr. Al Meena’s practice. At the time, Henry performed all kinds of procedures, though he specialized in heart surgery.

In 1973, Henry along with other top doctors started the cardiac program at St. Dominic’s; this led to founding St. Dominic’s Mississippi Heart Institute. During these exciting days, Henry met and worked closely with St. Dominic’s President Sister Mary Josephine Therese. Henry fondly recalled their numerous spirited negotiations while starting and growing the program. The unlikely pair forged a life-long friendship. Henry later became close friends with Sisters Dorothea and Trinita.

Henry performed St. Dominic’s first heart bypass surgery in 1974. Even though these were the early days in bypass surgery, St. Dominic’s performed 89 bypasses without a death, a staggering success rate. Soon, St. Dominic’s program was named by one major publication as being among the top five “safest places in the world to have your bypass surgery.”

With time and the advent of heart pacemakers, Henry became the first surgeon to perform pacemaker surgery statewide, including both at Baptist and St. Dominic’s hospitals. Henry served as chief of staff of St. Dominic’s. He authored three scholarly papers and produced surgical exhibits for the Mississippi State Medical Association.

Over the years, Henry was an active member in numerous professional organizations including: the American College of Surgeons; the American Heart Association; the Mississippi State Medical Association; the American Medical Association; the Society of Thoracic Surgeons; the Central Mississippi Medical Society; and served on the advisory board of St. Dominic-Jackson Memorial Hospital.

In addition to being on the active staff of St. Dominic-Jackson Memorial Hospital and Mississippi Baptist Medical Center, he was on the active staff of the Doctors Hospital and the Central Mississippi Medical Center (conducting that hospital’s first open-heart surgery) and on the courtesy staff of the Woman’s Hospital at River Oaks.

In Henry’s spare time, he enjoyed collecting fine art, especially French Poster Art. He also loved to hunt and held memberships in several duck-hunting clubs including the legendary Fighting Bayou, as well as Float Road and Wild Wing, which he helped develop. Henry also enjoyed tennis and golf. Henry served twice as president of the of River Hills Tennis Club. He was also a founding member of the Annandale Golf Club and Reunion Country Club.

Henry was a long-time member of Jackson’s Northminster Baptist Church, and for almost 35 years he participated in leading a men’s Sunday school class. Soft-spoken and known for his gentle demeanor, Henry was beloved by many in his professional and social circles.

Henry was preceded in death by his sister, Mary Jane Tyler Jones, and his brother, Maurice Francis Tyler, Jr. Henry is survived by his daughter Tiffany Tyler Steadman, his son-in-law B.T. Steadman, his granddaughter Tyler Bell Steadman, and grandson Henry Benjamin Steadman.

Visitation will be held at Northminster Baptist Church on Monday, February 27, 2023, between 9:30 and 11:30. Funeral service to follow at Northminster at 11:30. A family and close friends graveside service will be held at the Enid Oak Hill Cemetery in Enid, MS at 3:00. Pallbearers are Clay Hayes, Woody Toler, Gerald Williams, B.T. Steadman, Jay Powell and Bubba Tyler. Honorary Pallbearers are John Stevenson, Merret Maxwell, Ron Kennedy, Lamar Maxwell, James Hayes, Mike Jabaley, Al Meena and David McNamara.