Dr. Harold W. Sanford, Jr.

Dr. Harold Woodliff Sanford, Jr., MD, FACR died unexpectedly at home on July 13, 2023. He was born on September 12, 1939, in Columbia, South Carolina, the son of Harold Woodliff Sanford and Leila Barton Sanford. He graduated from Columbia High School in the class of 1957, The Citadel in the class of 1961 and the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in the class of 1965. Following medical school, Woody was commissioned as an officer in the United States Navy and continued his medical training at the US Naval Hospital in San Diego, California, and the US Naval School of Submarine/Undersea Medicine, at Groton, Connecticut. He served as Medical Officer, on the ballistic missile submarine USS James Madison on multiple deterrence patrols, and then completed a radiology residency at the US Naval Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Following board certification in radiology, he served on staff at the United States Naval Hospital, Portsmouth, Virginia. After completing his time in the Navy as Assistant Professor of Radiology at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, he entered private practice in 1974 with the X-Ray Clinic Radiology Group, Spartanburg, South Carolina, where he worked until 1986. He then joined Radiology Consultants, PA, of Union, South Carolina where he worked until his retirement in 2002. He later served as a consultant with Spartanburg Radiology, PA. In 1998, Woody retired from the US Naval Reserve as a Captain after 20 years of service and after commanding three Naval Reserve medical units. He received the Armed Forces National Service Medal, Cold War period, for his service to the nation. He was a member of the Reserve Officers Association, US Naval Institute, Fleet Reserve Association, and the US Navy Memorial Foundation. Over the course of his medical career, he served as President of the American College of Radiology, South Carolina Chapter, and for many years, he was the American College of Radiology Chapter delegate to the South Carolina Medical Association House of Delegates and Chapter Counselor to Radiological Society of North America. He was a longstanding member of the American Medical Association. Woody served as Chief of Medical Staff of the Wallace Thomson Hospital of Union, South Carolina, Member of the Board of Trustees of the Union County Hospital District, founding member and Chairman of the Union County Medical Foundation, President of the Union County Medical Society, President of the Union Rotary Club, and Deacon and Elder, of First Presbyterian Church, Union. Woody is survived by his wife, Catherine “Kiki” Rigby Sanford; sister, Elizabeth Sanford Lane; children, George Woodliff Sanford of Charleston, South Carolina and Julia Sanford Fewell (Bruce); grandchildren, Alexander Bruce Fewell and William Sanford Fewell; and sister-in-law, Ida Rigby Hudson of Greenville, South Carolina. (All of Columbia unless otherwise noted). Woody is remembered as a man devoted to his family and community, a skilled diagnostician and compassionate doctor, a cheerful and constant friend, and an engaging conversationalist with a keen mind and willingness to serve and lead within his profession and community. His lifelong passion for learning led him to receive a second college degree from the University of South Carolina- Union after retirement, and up until his death he audited distance learning classes at his beloved Citadel. Woody’s interests included saltwater fishing, Gamecock sports, and snowskiing. The funeral service for Dr. Sanford will be held at 12 o'clock, Tuesday, July 18th, at Shives Funeral Home, Trenholm Road Chapel, 7600 Trenholm Road Ext., Columbia. A graveside service will follow at 4 o'clock in Greenlawn Memorial Gardens, 1300 Fernwood Glendale Road, Spartanburg, SC. The family will receive friends from 5 until 7 o'clock, Sunday evening at The Heritage Condominiums, 1829 Senate Street, Columbia, SC. Memorials may be made to Eastminster Presbyterian Church, 3200 Trenholm Road, Columbia, SC 29204; or to the Citadel Foundation, 171 Moultrie Street, Charleston, SC 29409.

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Dr. Harold W. Sanford, Jr.

September 12, 1939 - July 13, 2023