John Sloan Warner of Nashville, Tennessee passed away at home after a brief illness on Tuesday, May 13, 2025 with his family at his bedside. He was 93.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 67 years, Margaret ‘Peggy’ Smith Warner, his parents, Dr. Robert Jay Warner and Jeannette Joy Sloan Warner, and his brother, Robert Jay Warner, Jr.
He is survived by daughter Jeannette Sloan Warner; son Dr. J. Sloan Warner, Jr. (Jane); daughter Dr. Mary Laird Warner (Russell Stewart); grandchildren Jerome Blakeman Goldstein, Margaret Warner Goldstein, John Sloan Warner III, Colton Day Warner, Russell Orson Stewart, Jr., and Henry Laird Stewart; brother-in-law Overton Thompson Smith (Jeanette); and sister-in-law Catharine Donahoe Smith.
Born on November 23, 1931, John attended Woodmont Elementary School and Montgomery Bell Academy before graduating from Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia. He earned his BS in Biology at the University of the South in just 3 years, while enjoying ‘The Mountain’ with his Beta Theta Pi brothers. John studied medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, attaining his MD in 1956. Despite a heavy academic load, he made time to fox hunt with the Hillsboro Hounds, often alongside his medical school Dean. He completed his internship in internal medicine at Vanderbilt Hospital, residency at the Nashville Veterans Administration Hospital, and fellowship in neurology at the University of Minnesota.
While a medical student, John courted the love of his life, Peggy. They were married in Nashville in 1958 and moved around the country for the early years of their marriage while he completed his medical training. In Minneapolis, John and Peggy welcomed their first child, Jeannette. After he finished his fellowship, John was summoned to service in the US Navy at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital, where he served as Lieutenant Commander and Head of Neurology. Son Sloan was born in Portsmouth. After honorable discharge from the Navy, they moved to Durham, North Carolina, where he worked on the faculty of Duke University Hospital. Youngest daughter, Mary Laird, joined the clan there. After six itinerant years, John, Peggy, and their three young children returned home to Nashville to settle.
In 1965, Dr. Warner joined the clinical faculty at Vanderbilt Medical School, while he started a solo neurology practice at Baptist Hospital. He was among a core of Vanderbilt physicians who founded the Department of Neurology in 1969. After 25 years in private practice, Dr. Warner transitioned to full-time faculty at Vanderbilt, rising to the level of Professor. He was an expert in the treatment of chronic headaches and founded the Vanderbilt Headache Clinic in 1991, serving as its director until 1999. John enjoyed teaching medical students and residents and was infamous for grilling them during team rounds. After one neurology resident presented a brilliant analysis of a difficult patient case, Dr. Warner quipped – “Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes.” Dr. Warner closed his practice in 2001 but continued teaching students and residents until 2012, after which he retired as Professor Emeritus.
Dr. Warner was a member of the Tennessee Medical Association and the American Medical Association; a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and American Headache Society; and a member of the International Headache Society. He was the founder and first president of the Southern Clinical Neurological Society. He participated as a site director in clinical trials of migraine medications and authored numerous articles in American and international journals on the treatment of headaches.
Throughout their lives, John and Peggy were devoted supporters of both Vanderbilt Medical School and Medical Center. Peggy served as President of the Canby Robinson Society – the donor association for the medical center of which they were strong advocates. Together, they established the Margaret and John Warner Chair of Neurological Education. Recently, he attended the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the medical school, proud to be its oldest returning alumnus.
Outside of medicine, John – known to friends as Johnny – enjoyed tennis, gardening, cooking, hiking, sailing, and travel. A member of Belle Meade Country Club, he played in a regular men’s doubles game well into his 80’s and continued to play bridge in a men’s game several days a week until he passed. Ever competitive, John would come home to report his tennis score and how much he had won (or lost) in his penny-a-point bridge game.
While in Minneapolis and Portsmouth, John learned to sail and raced Lightning class sailboats on Lake Minnetonka. In later years, he shared his love of sailing with family and friends, skippering sailboats across the Caribbean and Mediterranean. Leading family friends the John Hardcastles, Rob Harwells, and John McAllisters, John captained the “Sheppard Place Navy” with Peggy as his “first mate.” The couples shared many adventures and ribald stories that should not be repeated.
From his experiences as a young boy at Camp Yonahnoka in Linville, North Carolina, John developed a lifelong love of Western North Carolina. He and Peggy built a summer home at the Chattooga Club in Cashiers, where they welcomed friends and family for almost 30 years. They shared every Fourth of July and many milestone celebrations there with children and grandchildren and with his devoted Labrador Retrievers, Giles and Liza.
John was a cradle Episcopalian, baptized at Christ Church Cathedral, where the Warner and Sloan families had worshipped for generations. In later years he and Peggy were communicants at both the Cathedral and St. George’s Episcopal Church.
John remained in control of his affairs until the end– always the captain of the ship.
Visitation will be at St. George’s Episcopal Church on Friday, May 30th, 10:00- 11:00 AM, with funeral service at 11:00 AM. A private burial will follow. https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/nashville-tn
The Warner family extends its thanks to Sheila Royster for her devoted care of both Peggy and John in their later years and also thanks Joe Ugwu and the Alive Hospice team for their gentle assistance to Dr. Warner in his final days.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a gift in Dr. Warner’s honor to Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Dean’s Scholarship Fund at https://medschool.Vanderbilt.edu/giving, Christ Church Cathedral at www.christcathedral.org or St. George’s Episcopal Church at www.stgeorgesnashville.org.
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