Roll Call Tribute

John A. "Jack" Williamson, MD 

February 3, 1929 - October 26, 2025 

John A. "Jack" Williamson died on October 26, 2025 in the home that he and his late wife Mary Beth had built and lived in for over half a century. Jack was born in San Antonio in 1929 to John Albert Williamson, Sr. and Mary Eleanor Fitch. Jack graduated from Alamo Heights High School in 1946, and Texas A&M University in 1950, where he served in the Corps of Cadets and majored in zoology.

In 1954, Jack graduated from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and married Mary Elizabeth James, then an undergraduate at Rice University. Mary Beth told Jack that she married him because "you let me be myself."

Jack completed his medical training in Denver, Houston, and South Carolina, then served as an orthopedic surgeon and captain in the United States Air Force in Minot, North Dakota. In 1961, he, Mary Beth, and their daughter Julie returned to San Antonio, where Jack practiced as an orthopedist for over 40 years, treating thousands of patients.

Beginning in May 1972, Jack chaired the Bexar County Emergency Medical Services Council, a joint effort by the Bexar County Medical Society, the San Antonio Fire Department, UT Health San Antonio, and local elected officials to establish an EMS service for citizens of Bexar and surrounding counties. Jack had a gift for bringing out the best in people that helped him find common ground among the many participants in the effort. Less than two years later, on March 1, 1974, trained emergency medical technicians in well-equipped modulances began treating and transporting to local hospitals victims of trauma, heart attacks, and other medical emergencies. Jack was very proud that San Antonio's EMS has saved so many lives in our community. He also served as Chief of Staff at Southwest Texas Methodist Hospital 1985-86.

Jack was an enthusiastic horseman, hunter, paddler, and explorer. He loved wildlife and nature in all its forms, and leading friends and family in outdoor adventures. He particularly enjoyed riding horses at his ranch near Bulverde, clearing brush to improve wildlife habitat at his house on Diversion Lake, and hiking with friends in Big Bend National Park. He was a member of the Argyle and the San Antonio Country Club, where for decades he took early-morning swims.

Jack and Mary Beth were intrepid and dedicated grandparents who traveled many miles over the years to visit their children and grandchildren in Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C., Detroit, California, Oregon, Europe, and Australia. Jack also enjoyed trips with family to Kenya, China, and the Galapagos, and as recently as the past two years, to Arches, Canyonlands, and Yellowstone National Parks.

Jack was preceded in death by his brother Walter, and Mary Beth, his wife for 68 years. He is survived by his sister, Nancy Ellen Dean; his children Julie and John, and their spouses Michael and Lauren; his grandchildren Alex, Liz, Lucy, Ned, and Alex's wife Peri; his great-grandchildren, Tavi and Banu; his nieces and nephews Robert, Kelly, David, Ellen, and Bobby, and their spouses, children and grandchildren; and the wonderful Palanca family – Elen and Francis Palanca, Jane Little, and Gemma and Danny Kiang – who all treated Jack as one of their own, and who lovingly cared for Mary Beth and then Jack until his last breath.

A funeral service for Jack followed by a reception will be held at 11am Friday, November 7th, 2025 at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 315 East Pecan Street, San Antonio.