James “Ted” Galyon, M.D., a founding partner of East Memphis Orthopedic Group, passed away on Thursday, April 28, 2023 at the age of 93.
Galyon helped found East Memphis Orthopedic Group in 1969. His family wrote, “He loved the practice of orthopedics because he believed that it was an area where you could make a difference in someone’s life.”
Galyon also was instrumental in the founding of St. Francis Hospital in Memphis in 1975. He would go on to serve as Chief of Staff, Chairman of the Board, and other committee member positions there. As a member of the State Volunteer Mutual Insurance Company, he helped create insurance protection for physicians in Tennessee. He was also the president of the Tennessee Medical Association in 1989.
Galyon earned his medical degree from the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in Memphis in 1953.
Initially, Dr. Galyon didn’t first focus on orthopedics. His principal training was in general medicine and his first residency in Columbia, South Carolina, was for general medicine. After residency, Dr. Galyon moved to Harlan, Kentucky, to take care of the entire panoply of healthcare needs of underserved coal mining families, including delivering their babies.
Galyon also put his medical training to use for the military. He joined the U.S. Army, went through basic training at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, and served for most of his military career at the U.S. army base in Stuttgart, Germany. He and his wife, Virginia (also a physician), had their first daughter Peggy while there on assignment.
Dr. Galyon returned to the United States and began an orthopedic residency in pediatric orthopedics at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Eventually he and his family returned to Memphis where he began his private orthopedic practice. His wife, Virginia, a pediatrician joined the Shelby County Health Department in North Memphis.
Galyon was born on April 13, 1930, in Knoxville, Tennessee, to Aubrey E. Galyon and Gladys Perry Galyon. He spent his childhood in Knoxville and graduated from Knox Central in 1948. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
He stayed at the university for his medical school training and that is where he met his wife, Virginia Diehl. They had been married for 50 years when she passed away. Virginia was one of the only two female physicians in the class of 1953. Gaylon and his wife raised three daughters.
He was preceded in death by his wife, his parents, his brother Aubrey Ervin Galyon, Jr. and grandson Ross Williams. He is survived by his daughters Peggy, Nancy and Mary and their families including many grandchildren. He also leaves behind his nephew Alex Galyon of Ames, Iowa.
