John Poynor ’58 Leaves Lasting Art Legacy
Dr. John Poynor ’58, a longtime Birmingham surgeon and patron of arts and education, died Oct. 6 at age 77.
The Birmingham native was one of three brothers who graduated from Indian Springs School, starting with Wilmer Poynor III ’56 and followed by John Poynor ’58 and the late Frank Poynor ’62.
Dr. Poynor regularly gave to the Annual Fund and other school campaigns at Springs. In all, he contributed $200,000 to the new art building construction.
The avid art-lover also donated the sculpture, “Sunrise,” which will be displayed in the new art building after its completion. It now hangs inside Town Hall, above the doors leading to the library and classrooms.
“Indian Springs fit John’s personality very well,” says Nancy Poynor, Dr. Poynor’s widow, citing the school’s emphasis on individual development, self-discipline, and social interaction. “The guidance and support from Springs led John to be the same with everyone he came in contact with the rest of his life.”
Dr. Poynor treated generations of diverse patients during his 47 years at St. Vincent’s Hospital, where he worked until a week before his death. His practice was based at ENT Associates, which he joined in 1971.
Dr. Poynor served on alumni boards at Indian Springs and Washington and Lee University, and on the board at Highlands School. He also was on the Admissions Committee at the University of Alabama’s School of Medicine in Birmingham.
Civic service included serving on the boards of the Mountain Brook Library Foundation and the Birmingham Museum of Art, where the Poynor's’ collection of mid-20th Century art is displayed in the Styslinger Gallery of American Art. He was a past Vestry member and Junior Warden at the Cathedral Church of the Advent.
Dr. Poynor earned his medical degree in 1966 at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB’s name at the time), where he also completed his internship, surgical residency and a residency in the specialty Otolaryngology. He served a two-year fellowship at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in New York before joining ENT Associates.
Dr. Poynor’s legacy lives on at Indian Springs with each glimpse of “Sunrise.”
190 Woodward Drive, Indian Springs, Alabama 35124
Phone: 205.988.3350
Indian Springs School, an independent school recognized nationally as a leader in boarding and day education for grades 8-12, serves a talented and diverse student body and offers admission to qualified students regardless of race, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. Located in Indian Springs, Alabama, just south of Birmingham, the school does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or sexual orientation in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, or athletic and other school-administered programs.
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© 2023 Indian Springs School. All Rights Reserved.