Dr. Mcdonagh

Kevin Thomas McDonagh

Dr. Kevin McDonagh, age 59, died peacefully at home on Dec 23 following a long and courageous battle with cancer that he fought together with his wife, Dr. Leslie Crofford, who loved him more than anything. He is survived by his parents, Dr. Thomas J. McDonagh and Helen Drury McDonagh, and his siblings, Thomas (Elisa and Stephen, Timothy, Michael, Julia), Eileen (Andrew Cardone), Brian (Karen and Patrick, Christopher, Gregory), and Patricia (Fred Palumbo and Freddie). Kevin was born in the Bronx, NY and raised in Bellerose Village on Long Island. He was educated at Columbia University and Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, loving the time he spent in Manhattan. His Internal Medicine training was completed in St. Louis at Washington University's Barnes Hospital where he met and married Leslie. They moved to Bethesda, MD to pursue biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health and Kevin also completed his subspecialty training in Hematology. After post-doctoral fellowship, he joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor where he studied the immunology of hematologic malignancies. He moved to Lexington, KY to become Division Chief of Hematology, Oncology, and Bone Marrow Transplantation at the Markey Cancer Center of the University of Kentucky. He was so grateful to his colleagues at UK for their care and concern during his illness. After eight wonderful years in the Bluegrass, he moved to Vanderbilt University to lead programs in benign hematology and multiple myeloma. He was a gifted clinician and educator who loved nothing more than working with students, residents, and fellows in caring for his patients. In addition to his love of medicine, he was an avid golfer, fly fisherman, and photographer. He and Leslie were fortunate to be able to travel extensively to pursue these passions together. They also loved their 4-legged children, a series of beautiful Labrador retrievers, who brought great joy to their lives. Kevin was particularly grateful to Leslie's family, Oscar, Jane, David, Nancy, Stephen, Barb, Mattie, Morgan, Molly, Stephen Jr, Alex, and Gabby Crofford for their love and support during his illness. His best friend John Klein of San Clemente, CA was a rock. He was blessed with expert care from all of the professional staff at Vanderbilt including Debbie Wallace and Dr. Kimryn Rathmell, therapists at Pi Beta Phi Rehabilitation Institute Jen Meyer and Christy Barefield, and his art therapist Barb Crofford. His caregivers Brenda Merritt and Patricia Ray were loyal and caring throughout his long illness and Craig Keene made sure his puppies were happy and healthy. Services will be private but gifts in Kevin's name may be directed to the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center or the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center.