WILMINGTON — Dr. Conway Hamilton Ficklen, 91, was born Sept. 7, 1926, in Lexington, Ky., and died Tuesday, March 6, 2018, in Wilmington, N.C.
The son of the late Vivian Conway and Marian Tompkins Ficklen, he spent his boyhood in Hazard, Ky. Following high school, he served in the U.S. 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 Department’s 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, N.C., and he was a founding member of the Possum Hollow Powder Company of Craigsville, Va. 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.
Conway was preceded in death by his parents; first wife, Rose Graef Ficklen; brother, Julian Brooking Ficklen; and two sons Louis Brooking and Fitz-Hugh Conway Ficklen.
He is survived by his wife, Rebecca Smith Laymon Ficklen; children, Ann Little, and her husband, Sid, Julia Sadler, and her husband, Robert, Jonathan Laymon, and his wife, Julie, Tish Alessandro, and her husband, James, and Charles Laymon, and his wife, Elizabeth; grandchildren, Daniel Little, and his wife, Amy, William Little, and his wife, Sara, Caroline and John Alessandro, Griffin and Kaleolani Laymon; and great-grandchildren Zoe, Beau, Hugo and Jackson Conway Little.
The family will receive friends from 5 to 7 p.m., Friday, March 16, at Dr. Ficklen’s home. A celebration of his remarkable and distinguished life will be held at 4 p.m., Saturday, March 17, at St. Andrews on the Sound Episcopal Church, 101 Airlie Road, Wilmington. A private interment service will be held in Woodlawn Cemetery, Blowing Rock, N.C.
Memorial gifts may be made to The Conway Ficklen, M.D. Memorial Fund, University of Virginia (UVA) Medical School Foundation, P.O. 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. Memorials may also be made to Crossnore School, P.O. Box 249 Crossnore, NC 28616-0249.
Share online condolences with the family at andrewsmortuary.com.
