John Tinker, M.D., professor and chair of the University of Nebraska Medical Center Department of Anesthesiology from 1997-2008, died Feb. 17 at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. He was 74.
A funeral service will be held at 5 p.m. on Sunday at Rasmusson-Bacon Funeral Home, 1418 Fawcett Parkway, in Nevada, Iowa. Visitation will be from 3-5 p.m. at the same location. A graveside burial ceremony will be at 11 a.m. Monday, at Tabor Cemetery in Tabor, Iowa.
“Throughout his life and his long career, Dr. Tinker touched many lives as a clinician, an academic leader, a mentor, and a friend,” said Steven Lisco, M.D., professor and current chair of the UNMC Department of Anesthesiology. “We will certainly miss him.”
A native of Cincinnati, Dr. Tinker earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1964 and was valedictorian when he graduated from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in 1968. He completed his internship as well as residencies in surgery and anesthesiology at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Harvard Medical School, in Boston. He also served as an instructor on the Harvard faculty.
Following a two-year stint in the U.S. Army Medical Corps Reserves, Dr. Tinker moved to Rochester, Minn., in 1974 to teach at the Mayo Medical School. He rose in the ranks from instructor to associate professor and became chief of cardiovascular anesthesiology at the Mayo Clinic, a position he held between 1978 and 1983.
For the next 14 years, he was professor and director of anesthesia at the University of Iowa College of Medicine, before moving to Omaha in 1997 to become professor and chair of anesthesiology at UNMC.
At the time Dr. Tinker joined UNMC, very few physicians were opting to go into anesthesiology due to the high liability risks associated with the profession.
Despite this, Dr. Tinker was able to grow the department, largely due to his strong recruitment of women physicians. When he retired in 2008, 17 women were on the anesthesiology faculty.
“I created an environment in which young women could have a career and a family,” Dr. Tinker said at his retirement. “I did this by showing respect for their needs as young mothers and getting out of their way.
“There are two keys to good leadership – hire the finest people and then clear any obstacles for them.”
One of the woman physicians who worked in anesthesiology, Sheila Ellis, M.D., remembers Dr. Tinker fondly.
“Three things mattered to him – patients, the people who worked for him, and the atmosphere we worked in,” she said. “His big question was always, ‘Can you do the job?’ He believed in people and he believed in providing a flexible work environment in which those people could flourish.
“I feel grateful for the opportunity to work with Dr. Tinker. He was an amazing individual. We all benefited from his leadership and vision.”
A prolific researcher, Dr. Tinker’s areas of research were in coronary physiology and anesthetics, cardiopulmonary bypass physiology, anesthesia risk and risk management, operating room management, quality assessment and cost/efficacy in medicine. He co-authored two major textbooks and five other books in the anesthesiology field. He had 236 publications to his credit, including several articles in fishing magazines.
As part of his research, Dr. Tinker developed new anesthetic agents for use in the operating room. He held patents on five inventions in anesthesiology.
Dr. Tinker is survived by his wife, Bonnie, of Ames, Iowa; his former wife, Martha Iuen-Tinker of Des Moines; his daughters – Deborah (Craig) Grandgenett of Nevada, Iowa, Karen (Bernie) Tinker-Sobierajski of Melbourne, Australia, Juliette (Dan) Tinker-Zimmerman of Boise, Idaho, Rachael Tinker of Spirit Lake, Iowa, and Laura Tinker of Spirit Lake, Iowa; his sister, Marianne (James) Miller of Lewes, Delaware; and his grandchildren, Andrew, Matthew, Ryan, Jennifer, Luke, Nicholas, Bryce and Alison. He was preceded in death by his parents.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the University of Nebraska Foundation or the University of Iowa Foundation to fund a lectureship in Dr. Tinker’s name.
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