Community mourns healer

Elia Powers

Dr. Peyman Tabrizi, a neurosurgeon at Western Medical Center in Santa

Ana, will always remember the man who helped usher him into his job.

Tabrizi first encountered Dr. John Charles Kennady, a future

mentor and operating room partner, during his interview for the

vacant position last summer.

“He made me feel very comfortable,” Tabrizi said Wednesday. “He

was always available to help me out. He was a very polite man and a

kindhearted individual. It’s a tragedy he had to leave us like this.”

Kennady, once a Newport Beach resident, died Dec. 29 in a car

crash at about 3 p.m. at the intersection of South Coast Drive and

Hyland Avenue in Costa Mesa. Kennady’s Porsche was broadsided by a

Dodge Durango SUV, police said. He was taken to Western Medical

Center, where he spent 32 years of his career and helped save

countless lives, many of whom were victims of major accidents. He was

78.

Nearly 500 people gathered Wednesday afternoon at South Coast

Repertory in Costa Mesa for his memorial service.

Speakers described Kennady as an even-keeled, gentle man with

varying interests.

“He liked the beauty of the ballet and the chaos of the operating

room,” said Mark Anderson, a friend and colleague.

Kennady collected art and was a major donor to venues such as

South Coast Repertory.

Friends said Kennady was a diligent student from a young age. Born

in Chicago, he received his bachelor’s and medical degrees from the

University of Iowa.

He was selected to study at the coveted Montreal Neurological

Institute at McGill University.

After graduation, he transferred his energy to teaching. He joined

the faculty of UCLA as a professor of neurological surgery and

nuclear medicine in 1959 and took a vested interest in trauma cases

and research.

In 1961, he left UCLA to establish the Department of Neurosurgery

at Harbor General Hospital. Eleven years later, he opened his first

private practice in Orange County.

Kennady served as the president of the Orange County Neurological

Society and worked alongside hundreds of physicians during his

tenure.

“He changed the course of medical history in Orange County,”

Anderson said. “He was the best of the best.”

Anderson said Kennady embraced the most difficult neurological

cases -- from tumors to aneurysms to major spinal cord damage.

In his final years, Kennady served mostly as a liaison to younger

neurosurgeons in Orange County. He continued his teaching in the

operating room, providing help at various area medical centers.

“He always told me, ‘I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get

enthusiastic, qualified people on board,’” said Shelle Bilhartz, vice

president of Western Medical Center.

Bilhartz said Kennady was always on call and happy to assist with

surgeries.

He is survived by his wife of 21 years, Teri, and by sisters June

and Bonnie.

* ELIA POWERS is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

He may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or by e-mail at

elia.powers@latimes.com