Michael E Jabaley M.D.

Michael Ellis Jabaley, M.D., beloved husband of Mary Galbreath Jabaley, died on his 88th birthday, July 12, 2022. He was born in Copperhill, Tennessee, on July 12, 1934, the son of John and Elizabeth (Solomon) Jabaley. He graduated from The Baylor School in Chattanooga in 1953 and from Vanderbilt University in 1957. Mike was the first person in his family to go to college, and only the second person from Copperhill to attend Vanderbilt. At Vanderbilt he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, the leadership fraternity ODK, and Phi Beta Kappa. He played halfback on the football team and was a member of the 1955 Gator Bowl championship squad. It was at Vanderbilt that he met Mary Abbay Galbreath, whom he married in 1959. It was also at Vanderbilt that a faculty member suggested he might want to apply to Johns Hopkins Medical School. His acceptance started him on a trajectory that influenced the rest of his life.

At Johns Hopkins, the highlights were meeting (and competing with) bright students from all over the country, making lasting friendships in the Pithotomy Club, and developing his surgical skills with Vivien Thomas, legendary assistant to Dr. Alfred Blalock. A surgical internship at Hopkins, a four-year surgical residency at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and a two year stint as a plastic surgery resident back at Hopkins gave him an opportunity to be with “the best of the best” surgeons and clinicians and to hone his surgical skills. Throughout this training, the U.S. Army had been patiently waiting to draft him. Now Major Jabaley, he was sent to William Beaumont Hospital in El Paso and then to Vietnam. There he worked at the Vietnamese hospital Cong Hoa and also at the Third Field Hospital – both in Saigon. As a fully-trained plastic surgeon, he was able to concentrate on head, neck, and hand injuries among the soldiers – but also operated on many Vietnamese children with cleft lips and palates and other birth deformities.

After his military service and a stint back at Hopkins as assistant professor of plastic surgery, he was recruited by Dr. James Hardy of the University of Mississippi Medical Center to be the chief of the Plastic Surgery program at UMMC. He and Mary made the big move with their five children, never expecting they would stay in Jackson. But gradually the “temporary” move became permanent, as they raised their children here, found a church home at St. Richard’s, and made good friends.

In 1979, Dr. Jabaley left UMMC and went into private practice, at first solo and later as a founding member of Plastic and Hand Surgery Associates. He operated at St. Dominic’s and other area hospitals for over thirty years, always accompanied by his invaluable surgical assistant – and friend – Frankie Charleston. Over the years his practice more and more emphasized hand surgery. He founded the Hand Clinic at St. Dominic Hospital. He became known as an international expert in Dupuytren's contracture and in carpal tunnel surgery. Once, during an especially stormy time of raising teenagers, he exploded, “People call me from all over the world to ask for my advice, and in my own home nobody listens to me!”

He was always active as a writer and teacher. He produced almost 100 scientific papers, one of the earliest receiving the Robert Ivy award for the “best scientific paper” at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons Annual Meeting in 1976 and another selected as the “best paper of the year” by the Journal of Hand Surgery in 2001. He edited several medical journals, and co-wrote the book “Stable Fixation of the Hand and Wrist” with his good friends Alan Freeland and Jim Hughes. He was chosen Clinician and Teacher of the Year by the American Association of Hand Surgeons in 2002 and received the Kenneth Pickrell Award for teaching excellence from the Southeastern Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons in 2006.

In addition to his tenure as president of the Mississippi Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Jabaley was on the boards of many national organizations. He was most proud of his service as an examiner for and vice-president of the American Board of Plastic Surgery; as president of the American Society of Surgery of the Hand; as president of the American Association of Plastic Surgeons; and as president of the Sunderland Society, a peripheral nerve study group.

Because he was in demand as a teacher and lecturer, he and Mary had the opportunity for memorable trips – overseas to Ethiopia, Japan, Thailand, Bulgaria, the USSR, South Africa, Switzerland – and in this country from Duke and Vanderbilt to Columbia in NYC and to USC and Stanford in California.

In 2009 Mike was honored by The Baylor School as Distinguished Alumnus.

Dr. Jabaley was a skilled surgeon, a gifted teacher, a great mentor, a demanding boss. He drove himself as hard as he drove others, always demanding perfection and almost never satisfied with the result. His patients knew he cared about them and did his best for them, and they loved him for it. In his later years he mellowed to become gentler and more accepting of human frailty. His grandchildren remember him quite differently than do his children!

He and Mary traveled each winter to various ski resorts with Hand Surgery friends, also for over twenty years to Palm Desert, CA, for two or three weeks of golf with many of those same friends. He and Mary designed and built a house on the Annandale golf course which was perfect for “golf, gardening, and grandchildren” which he declared to be his post-retirement interests. They stayed there until health problems made a move to St. Catherine’s the logical choice. No more golf, only a tiny garden – but still, to Mike’s pleasure, lots of grandchildren visiting. They and his children were attentive and loving to the end.

Mike was preceded in death by his parents; his brothers, Dr. Fred Jabaley of Cumming, GA, and Chuck Jabaley of Cleveland, TN; and his brothers-in-law, Dr. Joseph Fisher and Percy Galbreath of Memphis. He is survived by Mary, his wife of 63 years; his sister, Theresa Jabaley of Chicago; his sisters-in-law, Patsy Jabaley of Cumming, GA, Becky Jabaley of Cleveland, TN, and Anne Fisher and Loraine Galbreath of Memphis, and many beloved nieces and nephews. His children and their spouses are: Mary-Powel and Randall Thomas of Brooklyn, NY; Rear Adm (ret) Michael and Nicole Jabaley of Annandale, VA; Dr. Liza Jabaley Johnson and the Rt. Rev. Alston Johnson of Shreveport, LA; John Jabaley and Erika Zucker of New Orleans; and Kate and Tom Neylon of Dallas. His grandchildren are: William and David Thomas of Brooklyn, NY; Stephanie and Ben Coleman (and great grandson James) of Henrico, VA, Lt. Alex Jabaley of Virginia Beach, VA, Lt. Cal Jabaley of San Diego, CA, Isabel Jabaley of Williamsburg, VA, Ens. Jack Jabaley of Pensacola, FL, Christian Jabaley of Annandale, VA; Benjamin, Theresa, Georgia, and Robert Johnson of Shreveport; Hannah and Isaac Jabaley of New Orleans; and Daniel, Billy, Patrick, and Mary Abbay Neylon of Dallas.

The family thanks Dr. Jabaley’s loving caregivers, especially LaTaunia Catchings, Kathy Lewis, Pam Cross, Brenetta Braddy, and Brittany Wilfong.

A funeral Mass will be held at 1:30 PM on July 16 at St. Richard Catholic Church in Jackson. Visitation is from 4 to 6 PM on July 15 at Parkway Funeral Home on Highland Colony Parkway. In lieu of flowers the family asks that you donate to Holy Angels Residential Facility, 10450 Ellerbe Road, Shreveport, LA 71106, or to the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, P.O. Box 2052, Jackson, MS 39225.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.parkwayfuneralhomeridgeland.com for the Jabaley family.