Obituary of Erle W. Peacock

CHAPEL HILL— Dr. Erle E. Peacock Jr., of Chapel Hill died October 25, 2012. He was the son of long-time UNC Professor of Accounting Erle E. Peacock and Vera Ward Peacock. He was raised in Chapel Hill where he attended Chapel Hill schools and graduated from UNC-CH, Harvard Medical School and UNC School of Law. Dr. Peacock served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and in the U.S. Army Medical Corp where he specialized in Hand Surgery at Valley Forge Army Hospital during the Korean War. He returned to UNC shortly after the hospital opened and was founder of the Plastic Surgery Division and the UNC Hand Rehabilitation Center. In 1968, Dr. Peacock was recruited by the University of Arizona to be the founding Chair of the Department of Surgery and Chief of Surgery at the new University Hospital. He also taught and practiced surgery between 1977 and 1982 in New Orleans at Tulane University before returning to Chapel Hill and the private practice of plastic surgery from 1982 - 1993. After retiring from surgical practice in 1993, Dr. Peacock practiced Heath Care Law in Raleigh with Hollowell, Peacock & Meyer and subsequently in solo practice in Chapel Hill. Dr. Peacock was an active or honorary member of 27 professional organizations and was President of The American Board of Plastic Surgery, the Plastic Surgery Research Council and the Womack Surgical Society. He served on the editorial boards of five surgical journals, was a member of two NIH Study Sections and a consultant to the U.S. Army Research and Development Office of Medical Examiners. He was also a member of the American College of Legal Medicine. In addition to numerous publications in scientific journals and texts, Dr. Peacock authored a surgical textbook entitled, "Wound Repair," and co-authored with Richard Peters, M.D. a book entitled, "The Scientific Management of Surgical Patients." He received a NC Junior Chamber of Commerce Young Man of the Year Award in 1967, the UNC School of Medicine Distinguished Service Award in 1979, The American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery "Clinician of the Year" Award in 1985 and the Southeastern Society of Plastic Surgery Special Achievement Award in 2001. Voluntary service included serving as a legal advisor to the Lake Junaluska Assembly of the United Methodist Church and working in the Chapel Hill Senior Center RSVP, VITA and SCHIP programs. He was a lifelong member of University United Methodist Church where he occasionally taught adult Sunday School and was chairman of the Finance Commission for a two-year term. He was president of the Chapel Hill Rotary Club in 1993. Dr. Peacock is survived by his brother, A. Ward Peacock of Charlotte; his wife of 58 years, Mary Lowrey Peacock; two daughters, Susan Louise Peacock and Gayle Peacock Wood, both of Chapel Hill; a son, James Peacock of Rochester, N.Y.; and four grandchildren, Laurel and Robert Wood, Jennifer Grow and Michael Peacock. A memorial service will be held on Friday, November 2, 2012, at 2 at University United Methodist Church, 150 E. Franklin St., Chapel Hill. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Erle and Mary Peacock Charitable Fund c/o Triangle Community Foundation, Online condolences may be sent to www.walkersfuneralservice.com