James Webster Brooks, Richmond surgeon, dies

Dr. James Webster Brooks was known for his surgical care and patient care.

For the past 51 years, Dr. James Webster Brooks was a fixture around VCU Medical Center.

A longtime thoracic and vascular surgeon at VCU, Dr. Brooks was also a professor who trained the next generation of surgeons and later in his career served on the medical school's admissions committee.

"He was Mr. Hospital; he was always here, always focused on his patients," said Dr. George W. Vetrovec, chairman of the division of cardiology. "He was a very enthusiastic member of the faculty and the institution."

Dr. Brooks, who was named a professor emeritus of surgery in 2000, died Saturday at a Richmond hospital after a brief illness. He was 86.

A native of Round Hill who grew up in Winchester, Dr. Brooks was introduced to the medical field and science by his father, Samuel Carroll Brooks, who was a pharmacist.

Dr. Brooks graduated from The Citadel military college in South Carolina in 1943 and earned his medical degree at the Medical College of Virginia three years later. From 1947 to 1949, he served as an Army captain at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

He continued his medical training at MCV from 1949 to 1956 before completing a fellowship in thoracic surgery at the University of Wisconsin in 1957.

After returning to MCV in 1957, Dr. Brooks kept his focus on his patients and students. He was well-respected throughout the hospital and was described as one of the giants at the university by longtime colleague Dr. Harold F. Young, chairman of the VCU department of neurosurgery.

"He helped establish outstanding . . . surgeon care," Young said.

Dr. Brooks was steady in the operating room, very deliberate in his methods and held himself to high standards, Young said.That was a trait he passed along to his students as well.

"He taught students, especially residents, outstanding surgical technique," Young said. "He was a master surgeon . . . and a keen teacher."

In 1955, Dr. Brooks was voted by the senior class at MCV to receive the I.A. Bigger Memorial Medal, an award named in memory of the hospital's former surgeon-in-chief.

Dr. Brooks, who always dressed for work with a coat and bow tie, took great care with his patients, offering kindness and comfort to them and their families, said a son, James Webster Brooks Jr. of Richmond.

In 1994, a former patient created the Brooks-Lower Lectureship at VCU in honor of Dr. Brooks and the late Dr. Richard R. Lower, a pioneer heart-transplant surgeon at MCV.

While he was dedicated to his job, there was a lighter side to Dr. Brooks, who "had the ability to joke and keep everybody's spirits up," Vetrovec said.

In addition to his son, Dr. Brooks' survivors include his wife of 61 years, Vina Isach Brooks of Richmond; two daughters, Susan Brooks Wyman of Richmond and Linda Brooks Talley of Washington; another son, Scott Carruthers Brooks of Knoxville, Tenn., a brother, Samuel Carroll Brooks Jr. of Steamboat Springs, Colo.; and six grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held Wednesday at 2 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 4602 Cary Street Road, in Richmond.