Vanderbilt mourns loss of distinguished alumni Derryberry
Dr. John S. Derryberry, clinical professor of Preventive Medicine and a graduate of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, died May 19. He was 70.
Dr. Derryberry, who also received his bachelor of arts from Vanderbilt, graduated from the School of Medicine in 1953. In 1956 Dr. Derryberry started his family practice in Shelbyville, where he practiced for more than 40 years.
Dr. Derryberry served as president of both the American and Tennessee Academy of Family Physicians, and in 1969 he was named Physician of the Year by the Tennessee Academy of Family Physicians. He was also a member of the Tennessee National Walking Horse Celebration Association, and was elected to the organization's board of directors in 1989.
In 1997, he was recognized as the Vanderbilt University Distinguished Medical Alumnus. He was a recipient of the Henry Feldhaus, Jr. Community Medical Service Award, and was named a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow.
Dr. Derryberry was the son of the late James Westmoreland and Alice Dorinda Selley Derryberry.
Survivors include his wife, Susan Thompson Derryberry, and three daughters, Susan Bounds of Atlanta, Georgia, Anne Carter of Lexington, Ken., and Martha Condra of Birmingham, Ala.; three sisters, Dorinda Carlisle of Franklin, Betty Derryberry of Columbia, and Mildred Dodd of Sewanee. He has six grandchildren.