In the early morning of August 11, 2025, in Kingston, Ontario, surrounded by loved ones and the sound of summer birdsong and tolling church bells, Dr. Gregory Stidham exhaled his last breath in this world, passing onwards to a place of Peace. In his final days, Greg and his family were given the gift of time, grace, and laughter, together sharing memories, goodbyes, love, and tears.
Born in Lafayette, Indiana, on February 9, 1951, Greg grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, where he attended St. Edward High School. He earned a degree in English Literature at University of Notre Dame, then received his M.D. and pediatrics training at the University of Toledo College of Medicine, followed by Fellowship at Johns Hopkins University. Greg joined the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences and Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Hospital in Memphis, TN, where he started the Critical Care Program and served as Chief of the Division of Critical Care. He also started the hospital's Pediatric Palliative Care Program and chaired the Biomedical Ethics Committee for more than a decade. Greg worked for twenty-eight years at the children's hospital in Memphis, then finished his career as Professor of Pediatrics at Queen’s University and Kingson Health Sciences Center. After a 32-year career in academic medicine, he retired in 2012, which allowed him to resurrect his passion for literature and creative writing, publishing several books of poetry and short stories. Greg also volunteered as a grief counselor with Bereaved Friends of Ontario, continuing to support grieving families in his retirement as he did throughout his career.
In a life of service to others, Greg dedicated himself whole-heartedly to saving the lives of critically ill children, caring for those that were dying, and providing compassion and support to families in distress. Doctor, poet and writer, husband, father, mentor, and friend, Greg ardently sought to bring healing to others in all that he did. While his death leaves a void in the lives of so many who knew and loved him, his legacy and love will continue to live on in the many, many lives he saved and families he served, as well as those who he comforted in unimaginably difficult times.
Greg leaves behind many loved ones, both family and friend, but he will be most deeply missed by his wife, Pam; his sons and their wives, Chris and Liz, Tim and Ashley; his grandchildren, Grace, Sebastian, Sophia, Liam, Cadence, Natalie, Clara, and Cooper; his siblings, Mark and Sheree; and his dogs, Bear and Roxy. Greg was the hero that many people needed in their most difficult hours, and his loved ones find comfort in his spirit now in this time of both grief that he has passed and yet gratitude that he walked this earth.
In lieu of flowers, Greg’s family requests that memorial donations be made to Bereaved Friends of Ontario (www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/62501 or www.bfo-kingston.ca/donate).