Plan for the Future
James Terry Vail, Jr.
Jim was born and raised in Washington, D.C., where he attended public schools, graduating from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1951. His father was a letter engraver at the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and his mother was a schoolteacher.
Following that, he completed undergraduate studies and medical school at Georgetown University, interned in the U.S. Army, and served as a battalion surgeon in Germany from 1960-1963.
After a dermatology residency at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, he came to New Jersey with the Summit Medical Group, and practiced dermatology in Morristown from 1967-2008. He was the past Chief of Dermatology at Overlook and Morristown Memorial Hospitals, past president of the New Jersey Dermatological Society, and past president and a founding member of the Richard L. Sutton Dermatological Society.
He was a Fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology, and a member of the Morris County Medical Society, the New Jersey Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. He was also a recipient of the Golden Merit Award from the Medical Society of New Jersey.
Beyond dermatology and family, his interests included reading, classical music, fly-fishing, golf, and travel. He particularly loved fishing trips to Montana with friends and family. He was a member of Corpus Christi Parish in Chatham, and was also a member of Madison Golf Club.
He is survived by his beloved wife of 58 years, Dot; his son, Peter, of Manhattan and his wife, Julia Bates, and their sons, William and James; his daughter, Elizabeth, of Madison, Alabama, her husband, Lamar, and her children, Jessica, Shannon, Devon, and Alexander; and his son, Scott, of Morristown and his wife, Suzanne, and their children, Sean, Sophia, and Seamus.
A visitation will be held on Monday, June 26, 2017 from 2-4 p.m. & 6-8 p.m. at Wm. A. Bradley & Son Funeral Home, 345 Main Street, Chatham, NJ 07928. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held 11:15 a.m. on Tuesday, June 27, 2017 at Corpus Christi Church, 234 Southern Blvd., Chatham, NJ. Cremation will be private. Memorial donations may be made either to Doctors without Borders, USA, 333 7th Ave., New York, NY 10001-5004, or the THANC Foundation, 5 Union Square E #5b, New York, NY 10003. THANC is dedicated to research and treatment for head and neck cancer.