Dr. Conway Hamilton Ficklen was born on September 7, 1926, in Lexington, Kentucky, and died on March 6, 2018, in Wilmington, North Carolina. The son of the late Vivian Conway and Marian Tompkins Ficklen, he spent his boyhood in Hazard, Kentucky. Following high school he served in the United States Navy during World War II.

Conway completed his education at his beloved University of Virginia receiving both his undergraduate (1950) and medical degrees (1954), as well as fulfilling his internship and residency requirements (1959). All his life Conway celebrated his devotion to UVA: he was a lifelong Wahoo!

Conway’s love of medicine was evident in his many achievements. As a physician, Conway practiced obstetrics and gynecology in Wilmington from 1959 until he retired in 1987. He and his partner Dr. Robert C. Creighton introduced the first laparoscope at New Hanover Regional Medical Center (NHRMC). Conway and Dr. Creighton also initiated a same day surgery concept which ultimately became the Ambulatory Day Care Surgery program. In addition, Conway began the OB-GYN Residency program at NHRMC with Dr. Pete A. Powell and was affiliated with the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at UNC-CH as a clinical assistant professor. He subsequently supervised the Pender County Health Departments’ OB-GYN clinic from 1994 until 1999.

Conway was a member and president of the New Hanover – Pender County Medical Society, a member and president of the Wilmington Civitan Club, a fellow in the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology as well as the American College of Surgeons, and a member and executive officer of both the Pender County and the South Atlantic OB-GYN Societies.

Aside from his passion for medicine, Conway loved hunting, fishing, skeet and rifle shooting. He was an active sportsman and enjoyed the outdoors. He was president of the North State Game Club in Council, NC; and he was a founding member of the Possum Hollow Powder Company of Craigsville, Virginia. He hunted and fished all over North America and Mexico with his sons and friends and collected both trophies and game – which he enjoyed eating! He was a member of the Cape Fear Country Club, the Carolina Yacht Club and the Lariosa German Club.

Memorial gifts may be made to: The Conway Ficklen, MD Memorial Fund at the University of Virginia Medical School Foundation, PO Box 800776, Charlottesville, VA, 22908. Checks should be made payable to UVA Medical School Foundation with Conway Ficklen, M.D. Memorial Fund in the memo line. OR Crossnore School, P.O. Box 249 Crossnore, NC, 28616-0249.