Heritage Snapshot: Part 206

LOMA LINDA >> John W. Mace was born July 9, 1938 in Buena Vista, Virginia. His mother finished the seventh grade, but his father didn’t finish the first grade. When he was 8, they became Seventh-day Adventists, which was good for John and his seven sisters, because the church emphasized education. The death of a younger cousin from pneumonia when he was three or four made him think that if he were a doctor he could do something about that. He knew from as far back as he can remember that he wanted to become a physician. John attended a one-room school in Buena Vista that had eight grades. He loved it because he got to learn what the older kids were being taught. He later attended Shenandoah Valley Academy and graduated from Columbia Union College in 1960. John and his wife Janice were married in 1962 in Oakland, California, after his second year in the Loma Linda University School of Medicine. They have two sons and a daughter. After his graduation in 1964, Dr. Mace vowed to be the best resident he could and to read at least two hours every day, including days he was on call. He spent seven years in San Diego with the United States Navy, during which he took a residency in pediatrics. Later he studied endocrinology at the University of Colorado. During this time he had several experiences that motivated him to return to academia. His vow to read two hours a day impacted his career. Often he would read something one night only to see it the next day. The most interesting case was a child who reportedly had croup. During his examination he noticed that she had no pupils. All he could see was iris. How can pupils get that small, he wondered. The night before he had read about the effects of a certain insect killer. He asked the dad if he had sprayed the house with anything recently. When the father said, “Malathion,” Dr. Mace knew exactly what he had to do, which included large doses of Atropine. The anesthesiologist present refused to give her the dose Dr. Mace felt was necessary, so he administered it himself. The girl recovered and Dr. Mace felt that God was looking after him and his little patient. Dr. Mace joined the faculty of the Loma Linda University School of Medicine as a pediatric endocrinologist in 1972 following a series of letters from the former departmental chair. Robert F. Chinnock, M.D., finally sent him a powerful four-word letter which said, “John, we need you.” Only three years after joining the faculty, because of his quantity of published research he believes, he became chair of the Department of Pediatrics for the next 28 years. The most enjoyable part of Dr. Mace’s career has been in “helping to turn out really good clinical physicians.” In fact he feels like he has had hundreds of children in a way because the Department of Pediatrics had so many resident physicians during his tenure: 300 during the last 20 years. Dr. Mace feels that his greatest career contribution has been the promotion for many years of the building of the Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital, now the second largest children’s hospital in California. Dr. Mace eventually became Medical Director and Physician-in-Chief. He retired from administration when he turned 65 and now is a Professor of Pediatrics—seeing patients, which is what he loves to do. In 2007, Dr. Mace became the Loma Linda University Alumnus of the year, and in 2014, he received the School of Medicine’s Distinguished Service Award.