Dr. Charles Harris “Nick” Livengood III, MD, age 66, died Monday, May 9, 2016, at home.
Born May 3, 1950 in Durham, the son of Charles H. Livengood Jr. and Virginia McClellan Livengood, great-grandson of Norman McLeod Johnson, Durham’s first doctor, grand-nephew of William T. Blackwell.
Nick enjoyed watching Durham become a city of which he was proud.
Nick attended Durham Academy when it was Calvert Method School. A 1968 graduate of Jordan High School, he was President of the Student Government Association 1967-8, and played on the 26-0 State AAA Championship Basketball team.
Nick graduated Davidson College in 1972 with a Bachelor of Sciences, major in Premedicine, minor in English. He was President of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity and a member of the Honor Council and Premedical Honor Society.
Following graduation in 1976 from Duke University School of Medicine, he served an internship in Internal Medicine at the University of Missouri, Columbia, 1976-7.
Dr. Livengood completed his residency and Administrative Chief Residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Duke University Medical Center, 1977-81, with special appreciation of the teaching and support of Roy T. Parker MD, Charles B. Hammond MD, W. Allen Addison MD, and Donald T. Moore MD.
Dr. Livengood was appointed as Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Duke University Medical Center, July 1, 1981. Subspecialty training in Infectious Diseases 1981-3.
Dr. Livengood was certified for life by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology 1983; awarded tenure and rank of Associate Professor in 1992; and authored over 40 peer-reviewed scientific research studies and over 20 book chapters in the field of Infectious Diseases in Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Dr. Livengood was inducted into membership of the Infectious Diseases Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1983, and served on its Executive Council and as its Membership Chairman for many years.
He founded the Chlamydia Laboratory at Duke University Medical Center in 1983, which became the first lab at Duke to offer patient results from testing based on nucleic acid amplification. Dr. Livengood continued on as Medical Director of the Duke Hospital Chlamydia/STD Laboratory.
Special thanks is offered to Jane W. Wrenn ASCP for her tireless technical direction, loyalty, and organization of the laboratory to which it owed its success for over 25 years; more importantly, her support and dedication to Dr. Livengood’s interests were a source of essential strength to him.
He organized and directed the Annual Duke Symposium in Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Women’s Health for many years, and established the Cape Fear Valley/Duke Ob-Gyn Program in 1988.
Dr. Livengood served as Chief of the Gynecology Service in the Department of Surgery at the Durham Veterans’ Administration Medical Center from 2005-16. Dr. Livengood was especially grateful to have had the opportunity to work with the dedicated people at DVAMC.
He also served as the Medical Quality Assurance Officer of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Duke University Health Systems for many years. Special thanks to Haywood L. Brown MD for his support during these efforts.
Outside his eminent medical career, Nick served as announcer of the Durham Debutante Ball Society and Christmas Cotillion every year from 1979-2009. He joined the Board of Directors of South Durham Little League, and served as its Equipment Manager since 1998.
The fine people in SDLL brought a special joy and camaraderie to Dr. Livengood for which we are grateful. He coached over 25 kids’ baseball teams, which was a source of great happiness to him.
Most of all, Dr. Livengood was blessed to have a son who brought him the greatest happiness in his life. The hours they spent together on baseball fields, fishing in the ocean, walking on the beach, and just playing together, were the finest hours of his life.
Funeral services will be 11:00am Friday, May 13, 2016 from St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, Durham, with Rev’d Sally French presiding. Burial will follow in Maplewood cemetery.
Friends may visit from 6:00-8:00pm Thursday at Hall-Wynne Funeral Service. On-line memorials: hallwynne.com.