Dr. Rufus Ausband

BEAUFORT, SOUTH CAROLINA - Dr. John Rufus Ausband of Beaufort, South Carolina died on May 13, 2012.





Born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on October 14, 1920, he was the son of C. C. (Clarence) and Estelle Crowell Ausband.  Dr. Ausband was married to the late Geraldine Trent of Winston-Salem on June 25, 1949 for 59 years. They were the parents of Leigh Trent Ausband of Charlotte and Ann Ausband McDuff (Bill) of Beaufort SC, who survive him. He is also survived by four grandchildren, Ned DuRant (Jessica) of Charleston, SC; Anna DuRant Roberts (Andrew) of Boulder, CO; Martha McDuff of Beaufort, SC and James L. McDuff of Charleston, SC; and a great-grandson, Ethan DuRant and a great-granddaughter Ellie DuRant. He is also survived by one sister, Ann A. Harmon of Richmond VA; and  brothers Samuel P. Ausband of Winston-Salem, NC; David W. Ausband, of Dunwoody, GA; and Robert W. Ausband of Gainesville, FL; and twenty nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by sisters Ruth A. Hill and Mary A. Hamm, and brothers Frank C. Ausband and Henry L. Ausband.





Dr. Ausband was a member of The Old Town Club in Winston-Salem and later The Atlanta Athletic Club in Atlanta; The Sea Pines Club in Hilton Head, SC; and The Woodside Club in Aiken, SC.





After attending local schools and graduating from Asbury College in 1940, Dr. Ausband enrolled in the Wake Forest College School of Medical Sciences in the fall of 1940 and moved to Winston-Salem in 1941when the school moved to its present location. With the changes in schedules brought on by the onset of World War II, summer vacations were discontinued and he graduated from the Bowman Gray School of Medicine of Wake Forest University in its first class in December, 1943. He had a rotating internship at the Hartford (CT) Hospital in 1944 and returned to Winston-Salem as Assistant Resident in Surgery at the NC Baptist Hospital until March 1946.





He was on inactive duty with the US Army in 1942, on active duty in the Army Specialized Training Program while in his last year of medical school, and again on inactive duty during his internship and assistant residency. He was then called to active duty as a 1st Lieutenant in the Medical Corps in April 1946 and was sent to Fort Sam Houston, Texas for Basic Training. He was sent to Germany in The Army of Occupation until his discharge in March 1948. His initial assignment was to the 121st General Hospital in Bremen and a satellite in Bremerhaven, later on the staff of a Station Hospital in Giessen and later in various positions at Furstenfeldbruck Air Base in Bavaria, near Munich. He was honorably discharged from the Army as Captain in the Medical Corps.





After returning to the US he practiced medicine in Denton, NC until July 1949 when he returned to The NC Baptist Hospital for further training in pathology and otolaryngology, finishing this program in June 1952. He was appointed to the faculty of Bowman Gray School of Medicine as Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology and was promoted later to Associate Professor and then to Professor. He resigned this position and moved from Winston-Salem, ending his career as Associate Professor of Otolaryngology at Emory University School of Medicine. He was later recognized as Emeritus Professor of Otolaryngology at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He was a member of Phi Rho Sigma Medical Fraternity and was elected President of the Grand Chapter of the Fraternity.





While he was in practice, Dr. Ausband was an active member of a number of professional societies, including the North Carolina Society of Otolaryngology and Ophthalmology where he was secretary and later president, Forsyth County Medical Society and American Medical Society, The American Triological Society, American Broncho-Esophagological Association where he was secretary and later president, The Society of University Otolaryngologists, and the local societies in both South Carolina and Georgia. He made a number of contributions to medical literature including one book. He felt his prime contribution in medicine was to his patients who entrusted themselves to his care.





He was a lifelong member of the Methodist Church and served his church in an elected capacity on several occasions.





The family will receive friends 5 until 7 o'clock Tuesday, May 15, 2012, at Copeland Funeral Service - One Copeland Drive.





A memorial service will be held at 10 o'clock Wednesday morning, May 16, 2012, at Carteret Street United Methodist Church. The burial, with military honors, will be held at 11 o'clock Wednesday morning at Beaufort National Cemetery.





In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Carteret United Methodist Church - 408 Carteret Street, Beaufort, South Carolina 29902 or The Crossnore School - Post Office Box 249, Crossnore, North Carolina 28616 or the WFU Baptist Medical Center - Post Office Box 571021, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157-1021.