Dr. Melinda A. Lucas, Ms, Md, Faap

Melinda A. Lucas, MS, MD, FAAP

Dr. Melinda A. Lucas, MS, MD, FAAP, was born June 27, 1953, at Blount Memorial Hospital and passed away after a brief illness at Blount Memorial Hospital June 1, 2021.

Dr. Lucas is survived by Sister Gretchen Lucas Vondran, Maternal Uncle Leon Shields and Paternal Aunt Marilyn Jane Lucas and several favorite cousins. She was predeceased in death by her parents Arthur Lucas and Dorothy Shields Lucas. She was a direct descendent of John Oliver of Cades Cove.

Melinda would like to especially thank in addition to her sister Gretchen, those who have provided spiritual and emotional support in addition to friendship over the past six years: Mary Frances Skeen, David & Betty Jo Pesterfield, Rev. Dennis & Mrs. Ann VanCuren, Randall and Sarah Wetherington, Judy Headrick, Penny Powers of Johnson City, TN and Dr. & Mrs. Michael DeVoe, Nashville TN. She would also like to thank her Physicians in Nashville, TN, with the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Dr. Douglas B. Johnson and Dr. Mary Hooks. Also, thank you for the care she was provided by the staff of Blount Memorial Hospital 5East.

Melinda, as most people called her, attended Tom Thumb Nursery School where she met Anne & Sarah, life long friends. She decided to become a Physician and went on to attend Union Elementary School where she was an outstanding forward on championship basketball teams in 1965-1967. Melinda attended Everett High School where she participated in National Honor Society and other organizations but was very proud to be runner up in the TN State High Jump Championship in both her Junior and Senior years. She was also proud to be a varsity starter and letter winner for the Everett High School girl’s basketball team. Her senior year she played independent basketball with other Blount County high school stars for fundraisers and for scrimmages against colleges that were transitioning from the six players half court game to the five player full court game. Melinda also stayed busy having her own Maryville Alcoa Daily times paper route beginning in the 6th grade and continuing until she graduated from college to earn money for Medical School.

Melinda attended Maryville College where she played on the women’s basketball club team, played intramural sports and worked and studied Biology. She was a pre-med major with her heart and eyes set on becoming a Physician. After graduation from Maryville College, she went on to earn a Masters of Science of in Special Education from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville prior to entering the University of Tennessee Center for Health Sciences. She graduated for the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in 1981 and did a Pediatric Internship and Residency at the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY where she was Pediatric Chief Resident. She returned to Maryville to practice a year with Maryville Pediatric Group before joining the University of Tennessee-Knoxville Department of Pediatrics to help establish a Pediatric Residency Program with a focus on Pediatric Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine. Melinda became active in the Tennessee Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics, serving as Chair of the Injury Prevention Committee. Notable accomplishments, with the help of others, were the bike safety helmet laws, advancing child care seat safety laws, instituting the child car safety check program in East Tennessee. Also she helped establishing the car seat program for special needs children in Tennessee and making available appropriate car seats for children whose car seats had been in a major vehicle collision. For these efforts, she received an American Academy of Pediatrics and the Tennessee Academy of Pediatrics Special Achievement Awards. She was also an avid advocate and participant in the founding of the TEIS and its growth and development.
Melinda also did post graduate work as a student at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville College of Law where she was named to the Who’s Who in American Colleges of Law. In addition she also did post graduate work in Biostatistics and Clinic Research Design in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor College of Medicine/Public Health and a sabbatical year in Pediatric Critical Care at the CS Mott Hospital at the University of Michigan. With the transition of Pediatrics from UT Knoxville to East Tennessee Childrens Hospital, Melinda transitioned to East Tennessee State University where she practiced Pediatric Critical Care as the first Board Certified Specialists in their PICU, developing the sedation team, teaching pediatrics to 3rd and 4th year medical students and Pediatric Residents. There she received the Servant’s Heart Award for Medical Staff and the Healthcare Heroes Award. She also completed the Physician Leadership Academy at Mountain States Health Alliance. Melinda retired as a Professor of Pediatrics from the Quillen College of Medicine at East Tennessee State University in 2019.

Melinda accomplished her childhood dream of becoming a Physician and wants to be remembered as a caring compassionate physician who tried to make the world a safer place for children. She never forgot her family, friends, colleagues and neighbors who helped her achieve her goals.

A Private Graveside Service will be held at a later date at Grandview Cemetery with the Reverend Dennis VanCuren officiating. Covid 19 Precautions will be followed

In lieu of flowers the family request donations to the Dr. Melinda A. Lucas Scholarship Fund at Maryville College, 502 East Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville, TN 37804-9984 or on line at www.maryvillecollege.edu/giving/make-your-gift-today/.