Dr. Herman F. Easom--Memorial

Dr. Herman F. Easom, the longest serving public health employee in North Carolina, died Dec. 16, in Wilson County, at the age of 103.

A native of Selma, Dr. Easom graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1925 and received his medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., in 1927.

His career is legendary in the state public health system. He created the state's Department of Occupational Health in the 1930s and continued to work in various capacities until 2002 -- over 70 years. His last endeavor was reading X-rays, for the Wilson and Edgecombe County Health departments, making him the longest continuously serving public health employee in the history of the state.

" I can't think of any other physician who practiced at such a high level for such an extended period of time, always with the utmost devotion to his patients and to his state, said former State Health Director Ron Levine. He was an inspiration to us all."

The U.S. Public Health Service published some of his research papers in the field of X-ray. Many of his papers eventually became the basis of national health policies followed by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention with the National Institute of Health.

His work with the state began in 1929 at N.C. Sanatorium in McCain where he served as a clinic physician until 1942. There was a four-year break in which he was the director of the Division of Industrial Hygiene for the State Board of Health. In 1942 he moved to Wilson to supervise the building and operation of the new Eastern North Carolina Sanatorium, now the NC Special Care Center. He served as the Associate Director and Medical Director until 1975.

He served on the Medical Committee for the N.C. Dusty Trades which he founded in 1935 and chaired until 2000.

At 103, Dr. Easom was the oldest member of the North Carolina Medical Society, and had been a member for 76 years, the longest NCMS membership.

He received the state's highest honor -- the Order of the Longleaf Pine -- in 1998.

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Last Modified: January 30, 2006