About the Author
John Michael Montgomery, M.D., M.P.H.
Family Physician · Medical Epidemiologist · Healthcare Executive · Public Health Physician · Ordained Minister · Publisher & Author
Known to many as “Dr. John” or “Dr. M,” John Michael Montgomery’s life has been profoundly shaped by death, faith, medicine, and service.
Death first touched John’s life at age nine, when his 15-year-old brother was accidentally shot and killed on his way to school. Six years later, on June 25, 1975, his mother died of breast cancer. As she lay dying, 15-year-old John made a promise to God: if his mother lived, he would serve God as a priest; if she died, he would become a doctor and fight cancer.
For the tenth of eleven children—and the sixth son in a family in which none of his older siblings had yet attended college—the promise seemed extraordinary. But his mother died several hours later, and John began pursuing a path that would shape the rest of his life.
He entered Brown University in 1978. During his freshman year, death came again when his father died of congestive heart failure. Now without either parent, John continued pursuing the promise he had made as a teenager.
He earned his B.A. in Biology from Brown University, followed by a Master of Public Health from Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, before returning to Brown to earn his M.D. from the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
His career has brought together epidemiology, public health, clinical medicine, healthcare leadership, and service. He has led public health departments and clinical healthcare initiatives and held senior physician leadership roles with one of the nation’s largest health plans while maintaining a longstanding commitment to organized medicine.
John served as President of the Duval County Medical Society in 2007. In 2008, he received the American Academy of Family Physicians’ Robert Graham Physician Executive Award, a national recognition of his contributions as a family physician executive.
A member of the Florida Medical Association for more than 25 years and the American Medical Association for approximately 40 years, John received the Florida Medical Association Distinguished Service Award in 2026, the Association’s highest award.
His commitment to fighting cancer became a sustained leadership journey with the American Cancer Society. He served on the Florida Division Board and progressively assumed greater responsibilities, including two years as Chair of the Cancer Control Committee, two years as Chair of the Legislative and Public Policy Committee, and service as Medical Vice Chair before becoming Chair of the Board of the Florida Division in 2014. His service also extended nationally, including membership in the American Cancer Society National Assembly in 2010 and service as State Lead Ambassador for Cancer in 2015. In 2016, he received the American Cancer Society’s National St. George Award, its highest volunteer honor.
In 2026, John was appointed to the Board of Trustees of Meharry Medical College, where he serves on the Health Affairs and Student Affairs Committees.
Yet behind those accomplishments remains the promise of a 15-year-old boy sitting in a nursing-home prayer room as his mother lay dying. Medicine became one way John kept that promise. His writing has become another.
Through his books, John brings together a lifetime of faith, biblical study, personal loss, medicine, public health, and service—sharing lessons he hopes will help others find lasting peace and comfort in their own lives after the death of a loved one.
