James Granner Garrick

James Granner Garrick entered the world on May 30, 1936, to Dorothy and Carlyle Garrick in Webster, SD.  Growing up, Jim loved to go fishing with his dad and also hunted prairie dogs, cutting off and collecting the rodents’ tails, (ironic for such an animal lover). He appreciated his mother’s mouth-watering dishes, which contributed to his later love of cooking.  As a high-school senior, Jim was one of only two boys from SD selected to attend Boys’ Nation, an honor which continued to be quite important to him throughout his life.  For four years he competed on Webster’s high school golf team, when, if it was raining, he taught several teammates to play chess, the forensics team, and played in the school’s band.  Dorothy was quite worried because Jim, age sixteen at the time, played clarinet in a local band that travelled around the eastern part of the state to perform in small-town bars; she was concerned he would be tempted by loose women and drink too much.  Webster, SD, remained dear to him as he proudly claimed to be a native South Dakotan to whomever he spoke, even threatening his wife Chris that they would return to SD upon his retirement.

Jim received his bachelor’s degree from the University of South Dakota and often chided his SD daughters for earning their degrees from SDSU, “that other school in a cow pasture.”  He earned his doctorate from the University of Michigan, graduating magna cum laude.  While at Michigan, Jim was unsure as to which field of medicine to focus, almost missing the residency deadline by one day due to his indecision.  This provided an unexpected opportunity as only one residency position remained, and as luck would have it, that remaining position was in orthopedics, which became one of the great loves of his life.

While receiving his orthopedic training at the Mayo Clinic and Foundation in Rochester, MN, Jim directed a USPHS-funded research project on the epidemiology of ski injuries at eleven ski areas across the US.  It was in Rochester that his first child Becky was born.  She proved to be her father’s daughter as he instilled in her his love of reading and learning, and she became a teacher just like her father and his mother.  Jim and she would often call one another sharing the titles of books the other “just had to read.”

For a brief period, Jim and his little family moved to Vail, CO.  While at the newly-opened ski resort, he served as both the resort’s and the town’s only physician where he delivered babies, cared for the town’s residents and resort’s skiers, and provided an open-door invitation to the ski patrol to partake in rum and Cokes and “lively” conversation.  Soon after, upon his return to Rochester, his second daughter Amy arrived. They were definitely interconnected because, to this day, they’ve been able to communicate without words being spoken and knew one another’s thoughts.  They also shared a love of cats that some would call “intensely fanatical.

From 1967-1968 Jim voluntarily served as an LCDR in the US Navy, as an orthopedic surgeon at the Naval Support Activity Hospital in Danang, Republic of Viet Nam. Jim repeatedly stated that it was the most meaningful part of his life because he treated both injured military personnel stationed in Viet Nam and many civilians.  While there and later at the Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, MD, he co-directed the Naval Battle Casualty Study, the largest study of the management of battle casualties in the history of warfare, both then and now.  This study allowed him and other surgeons to specialize and more effectively treat servicemen during and after battle.

It was in Viet Nam that Jim met the love of his life, a flight attendant named Chris Wenzl, and following his discharge from the Navy, the two made their way to Davis, CA. He and another physician established the first orthopedic department in the newly-formed Medical School at the University of California at Davis.  In 1970 Jim and Chris then moved to Seattle, where Jim became a Huskie as he started and directed the Division of Sports Medicine at the University of Washington, the first sports medicine department in an academic setting in the US.  As an associate professor, he authored the first epidemiological studies of the safety factors with the use of synthetic turf, leading to more football stadiums around the country changing or modifying their playing surfaces.  Jim’s own little Huskie entered the family when his son JC was born.  JC inherited his father’s affinity for travel and exploration, and they visited numerous destinations around the world together.  Jim always said JC’s home in HI was the most peaceful place he’d ever been.  A few years later, his youngest daughter Nancy arrived.  They shared a love of ice skating and dance, and even though Jim wasn’t proficient in either, he faithfully drove her to practices, attended all her competitions, and cheered from the sidelines.

In 1980 Jim moved his family to San Francisco to found and direct the Center for Sports Medicine at the Saint Francis Memorial Hospital, the first multi-disciplinary, hospital-based sports medicine facility in the western US. Trying to keep his business “in the family”, at one point or another, Jim hired all four of his children to work various jobs at the Center. Unfortunately, none of them chose the “family business”, much to his dismay.  During this time, he also conducted studies on dancers’ and gymnasts’ injuries and the use of football helmets and their relation to concussions. The Center was also the first to offer a Pilates rehabilitation and strengthening program in Northern CA.  Jim kept busy volunteering at the San Francisco School of Performing Arts caring for students there and served as a medical consultant for the National Football League, always keeping the players’ health first and foremost, sometimes against the coaches’ wishes. He was also proud to be the medical consultant for the US Olympic Figure Skating Team, the San Francisco Ballet, and Cirque Du Soleil when they travelled to San Francisco and served as the physician for the players of the Transamerica Tennis Tournament.  During the aerobics craze he worked with Jane Fonda as a consultant for her aerobics videos, and he saved numerous professional athletes’ careers with his prowess as a surgeon.  It was Jim’s uncommon belief that only until all possible measures had been exhausted, would his patients undergo surgery at his skilled hands.  It wasn’t about the money for him; it was what was best for his patients.  He travelled around the world giving lectures presenting information and surgery techniques he had developed. Ironically, one of Scott’s (Becky’s husband) USD friends attended one of Jim’s lectures and said, “Tom Brokaw (another USD grad) was kissing his ass at the cocktail reception after the symposium.”  Jim authored five books, with Peak Condition being a New York Times bestseller, and wrote twenty- five bibliographic pages of various journal articles.

Following Chris’s passing and his retirement, in true form Jim continued his volunteer work. He became a docent at the Angel’s Camp Museum where, because he believed everyone needed more local knowledge, he was reprimanded for sharing too much information with the visitors.  He also volunteered as a dispatcher at the Calaveras County Jail, which he found exciting as he was working with the ne’er-do-wells of society.

Jim was so happy to welcome special people into his family.  When Becky married Scott, Jim was proud to have such a responsible, hard-working man caring for his daughter.  Ironically, Jim and Scott’s father both came from Webster, SD, and had golfed on the same high school team.  When his first grandchild Hannah came along, he was quite impressed with her determination and work ethic and even came to SD to watch her run in her cross country meets with Becky and Scott as her coaches.  He thought it a kick to ride on the team bus with his daughter and granddaughter.  He felt a connection with Hannah because she possessed the same drive as he, and when she moved into a position with an international company, he loved bouncing ideas off her. When JC married Jane, Jim was so pleased to include a fourth daughter into his fold.  Attending their wedding in HI was truly a special day, and he was thrilled that his son had married such an intelligent, sweet, kind woman.  He often told everyone that his grandson Otto was a brilliant little boy, and was extremely impressed with the toddler’s imagination, vocabulary skills, and ability to speak both English and German so fluently.  Ultimately, Jim decided to leave CA and move to OR to be near Amy and her husband Mark, and Mark quickly became another son to him.  The two loved watching football together, mostly because Jim thought it was hilarious when Mark completely came unglued when the Chiefs played.  Jim also appreciated Mark’s similar fondness for all college sports with Jim’s team being ANY team that was playing against USC. Much to everyone’s surprise, Jim became a dog lover and actually liked when one of Amy and Mark’s 125+ pound dogs would give him “kisses”. But his favorite volunteer job was going in to the Salem Friends of Felines Clinic with Amy on surgery days to lovingly act as the “cat cuddler” when the kitties came out of surgery.

Jim loved his toys from his Fat Boy Harley to the little red tugboat Pico, and his yacht Sopressa, named after, not his wife or children, but two of his cats. He had a penchant for unique homes, including the houseboat from the movie Sleepless in Seattle , which he always said if he’d hung onto longer, he could have made more than the $32k he’d paid for it, and the Hillsborough castle, which served as a location for the Jackie Gleason movie Ski-doo and was plagued with those “damn roof rats.”  No one in the world had more desire to eat gut-busting food from street vendors, county fairs, or food trucks, and in his last few days he even ordered Indian curry, which JC dutifully delivered and was told that it “wasn’t spicy enough.”  One of the most important roles of his life was that of cat dad, dedicating an entire large wall in his house to a collage of feline pictures, and whenever Jim travelled, he was constantly on the lookout for street cats to pet and photograph.  He was never found without a cat on his lap, and his beloved Bizcuit faithfully lay on his arm when he drifted away.  Jim shared with his four children and two grandchildren the mantra by which he lived his life: continually seek knowledge, read as many books as possible, work diligently, and love what you do. His family and friends meant the world to him, and once people became an important part of Jim’s life, there they remained.

Jim is survived by his children Becky (Scott) Peterson, Amy (Mark) Bradley, JC (Jane) Garrick, Nancy Garrick, grandchildren Hannah Peterson, Otto Garrick, cousin Carla (Mike) Gibson, and dear friends Bill Sears, Mike and Barb Ewing, Fred Schwacke, and Vic Prieto.  He was preceded in death by his one true love, Chris Garrick, and his beloved parents, Dorothy and Carlyle Garrick. Condolences and memorials to the Saint Francis Foundation (with “James Garrick” in the memo) or Salem Friends of Felines may be sent to:

Amy Bradley, 700 Garvord St, Lebanon, OR 97355

A memorial gathering will take place in San Francisco TBD; please check for that information at www.weddlefuneralservices@gmail.com.