Joseph John King, II M.D.

Joseph John King, II, M.D. passed away peacefully on Friday March 1, 2019 in Gainesville, FL surrounded by his loving family. Big Jay lived his life with boundless energy and ideas to make thing better and move his children to success. He was born December 27, 1946 in Philadelphia, PA to Francis and Joseph J King Sr and moved to Runnemede, NJ in early childhood. He graduated from Triton High School where as a youth, he was active in basketball and track. His basketball team had an undefeated season and made it to state finals his senior year. His team was recently inducted into the Triton High School Hall of Fame. He kept a lifelong love for the game and even played in a church league in Monroe, NC and took his children to countless Charlotte Hornets games. He participated in scouting with his father, attaining Eagle Scout rank. He was also in the Sea Scouts and visited Guantanamo Bay Military Base as a teenager. He spent summers at his family’s home on Barnegat Bay in Ocean Gate, NJ, racing sailboats and doing water sports with his three brothers. His love for sailing continued throughout his life. He raced M-scow, E-Scow and Lasers in the Great Lakes and the East coast regattas. He and his oldest son competed in the 1996 Olympic trials in Florida, and he sailed in the 2003 and 2004 North and South Carolina State Laser Championships with his daughter and youngest son. He captained his boat to a third-place finish in the catamaran class at the Sint Maarten Heineken Regatta in 2016. He attended the Naval Academy for a year, finished college at Muhlenberg College, then went on to Jefferson Medical College and an orthopedic residency at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. In 1978, he moved to Monroe, NC with his wife, Dr. Sandra Abda, who was his colleague, love and partner in crime. They started a private practice to serve the local community as its first orthopedic surgeons. As their practice grew, so did their family. Dr. King served as medical staff president, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Union County, a member of the Union County Health Department and president of Union Orthopedic and Carolina Bone & Joint, all while in active clinical practice. He brought vision, tenacity and diligence to each endeavor, and still had time for annual epic road-trip vacations with his family and friends. In retirement, he and his wife volunteered through Health Volunteers Overseas. They worked alongside Doctors from Montserrat and St Lucia in the Caribbean to provide orthopedic care and learn how other health care systems worked. They lived on their catamaran Long Reach six months a year, sailing from Trinidad to the Dominican Republic and throughout the Caribbean, volunteering where they could, meeting some wonderful people along the way, and getting a new sense of appreciation for our beautiful planet and the resilience of the human spirit. No matter how far Jay traveled from home, Ocean Gate, NJ on Barnegat Bay was always close to his heart and where he felt best. With friends, neighbors and family, summer there was always a celebration of the seaside life. Clamming and sailing on the Bay, happy hours at the Ocean Gate Yacht Club or just floating with friends made for peace and contentment not found anywhere else. He is survived by his wife, Sandra Abda King MD, oldest son Joseph K King III MD (Joanne Lagmay MD) and beloved grandson Andreas of Gainesville, FL, daughter Melanie King, attorney, of Silver Spring, MD and son Adam King, pilot, (Chambry King) of Deland, FL. Also surviving are daughters Courtney Feeny and Lisa King, grandchildren Christian and Addie Colciaghi, his mother Frances “Oma” Perry, brothers John King (Eileen) of Mt Laurel NJ, Robert King (Debbie) of Hatfield, PA and Richard King DPM of Elizabeth City, NC. He is also survived by beloved nephews, nieces and beloved cousins. His family will hold a private celebration of his life in Florida. A gathering of family and friends will be announced for a later date in Ocean Gate, NJ. The family would also like to thank Fredrick Kaye MD and Robert Amdur MD of the University of Florida Shands oncology team for their superior care and concern. We ask in lieu of flowers and in remembrance of our beloved husband, father and friend, memorial contributions can be made to the UF Health Cancer Center to support head and neck cancer research or to Save Barnegat Bay to protect the waters that meant so much to him. To donate to the UF Cancer Center, checks should be made payable to the UF Foundation, include “In Memory of Joseph King” in the memo line, and be mailed to: UF Health Cancer Center Office of Development PO Box 103633 Gainesville, FL 32610 Credit card gifts can be made by calling (877) 351-2377. To donate to Save Barnegat Bay, checks should be made to payable to Save Barnegat Bay, include "In Memory of Joseph King" in the memo line, and be mailed to: Save Barnegat Bay 117 Haines Road Toms River, NJ 08753 Credit card gifts can be made by visiting www.savebarnegatbay.org and clicking donate.

Joseph John King, II M.D.

December 27, 1946 - March 1, 2019