John Henry Tobin Jr. passed away at age 91 on Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022, while at his home on Gwynn’s Island, Virginia. John was born on March 1, 1930 to Laura W. and John Tobin in Rappahannock County, Va. Growing up during the Great Depression Era on a farm near the small Appalachian town of Bentonville, Va., John was a very hard-working and determined man. After graduating from Warren County High School in 1948, John enlisted in the U.S. Air Force where he joined the Medical Service as an x-ray technician and attended both the Century College of Medical Technology and the School of Aviation Medicine. Following his service, he went on to receive a B.S. degree in business administration at Richmond Professional Institute in 1957 and a Master of Hospital Administration at Medical College of Virginia in 1959. John enjoyed playing sports in high school and college. He met Mary Call during 1956 through a mutual friend and college basketball teammate, James “J.B.” Rogers. John and Mary wed during July 1958 and later had four children: John, Tim, Hugh and Lynn. John, Mary, J.B. and J.B.’s wife Betty remained closest of friends to the end. Mary and her parents, Dr. Manfred and Mary Call, later introduced him to waterfowl hunting and fishing on the Chesapeake Bay.
John, Mary, Dr. Call and J.B. also enjoyed decoy carving and spent many days together hunting, fishing and sharing their friendship. While John was truly devoted to family and friends, he was also highly engaged with his career, coworkers and the community. He served as board member, president or chairman of over 20 health care and charitable organizations, and had a long and successful career in hospital administration at Richmond Memorial, Richmond Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat and Johnston-Willis Hospitals. John and his family eventually moved from the Richmond area to the Nashville, Tennessee, area where he served as Executive Vice President and Senior Advisor to the CEO of Hospital Corporation of America (HCA). After retiring from HCA in 1988, he joined the Institute of Clinical Pharmacology (ICP) as CEO of U.S. Operations. Upon retiring from ICP in 1990, John and Mary moved back to Virginia, and finally to their beloved Gwynn’s Island. His professional contacts have written, “None of us ever left Mr. Tobin’s office feeling that we had seen some big corporation official, we all left with the feeling that we had chatted with a longtime friend,” and “Mr. Tobin is a very personable and likeable gentleman, and after you’ve met him, you get the feeling that you have known him all your life.”
John was predeceased by his parents; sisters, June and Nancy, and brothers, Conrad and Thomas “Tucker.”
He is survived by his wife, Mary; sons, John, Tim (and wife Susan) and Hugh; daughter, Lynn (and husband Greg Seigmund); brother, Bill; sister, Peggy; grandson, and family Sean, Devin and Luke Tobin; granddaughter, and family Jennifer, Krister and Finley Kniffen; granddaughter, Emma Seigmund; sister- and brother-in-law Martha “Cricket” and Manfred Call, and many nieces and nephews.
With the uncertainty caused by the current increase in cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, there are no immediate plans for the celebration of life. Faulkner Funeral Homes, Foster-Faulkner Chapel, Mathews, Virginia, is assisting the family.