Kenneth Poe Funeral Services

March 18, 2025

Joseph Gibson Whelan, Jr. (“Jay”; “Jaybird”), passed peacefully March 18, 2025, at Southminster Senior Center, Charlotte, NC. He was born in Louisville, KY, St. Anthony Hospital, January 27, 1937, at St. Anthony Hospital. He was a graduate of St. Dennis Elementary School, 1951; Flaget High School, 1955; University of Louisville, BA Chemistry, 1959; and University of Louisville School of Medicine, 1963. He completed a residency in Diagnostic Radiology, 1967.

Jay’s initial practice of radiology was with Kentucky Baptist Hospital in Louisville, 1967-’69. In 1970, he then joined St. Anthony Hospital, his birthplace, and became the Director of Radiology, 1975, where he also served as President of the Medical Staff, 1978, and as Chairman of the Medical Specialties Peer Review Committee, 1979.

He had elective teaching appointments with the University of Louisville School of Medicine in the departments of Radiology, Medicine and Surgery. He was one of the research investigators with the Department of Medicine through the EPA Grant to detect angiosarcoma of the liver in workers exposed to vinyl chloride for the production of PVC pipe. He published numerous other articles within Radiology and medical journals and books. In 1984, Dr. Whelan was invited with 11 other radiologists to present some of his research and other publications at Jinan University Medical College, Guangzhou (Canton) China, and the National Taiwan University Medical College and Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. He also presented papers in England and Canada.

Dr. Whelan served as the Kentucky Councilor to the American College of Radiology for nine years and as President of the KY State Chapter of the American College of Radiology for two years. For the Kentucky Medical Association, he served on the State Claims and Utilization Review Committee, the Board of Consultants on Scientific Articles, and the Committee on State Legislative Activities. He also served under John Y. Brown, Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, on the Radiation Operator Certification Advisory Committee, Radiation Control Branch, Department of Human Resources, 1979 – ’82, and the Radiological Sciences Discipline Advisory Group, Council on Higher Education, 1980 – ’83.

In 1988, Jay moved to Charlotte, NC to join his close friend, Dr. Gerald D. Zimmerman and associates in Radiology at the Mercy Hospitals. He served as Chairman of the Medical Specialties Quality Improvement Committee, 1987 – ’97. After their practice merged with Charlotte Radiology Associates (C.R.A.) in 1997, he served as the Director of Radiology at the W.G. Heffner Veterans Medical Center in Salisbury, NC until his retirement from medical practice in 2007.

In 1979, Dr. Whelan was conferred the degree of Fellowship by the American College of Radiology, FACR. In 2013, he was inducted into the Fifty Year Club for Leadership in Medicine by the North Carolina Medical Society.

Jay was a member of Pi Kappa Phi, University of Louisville, and Alpha Epsilon Delta Medical fraternities. At University of Louisville, he was a member of Alpha Epsilon Delta National Premedical Honor Society, Omicron Delta Kappa Society, and the Chemical Honor Society. Other local and national memberships included Jefferson County Medical Society, Kentucky Medical Association, Mecklenburg County Medical Society and the North Carolina Medical Society, American College of Radiology, American Roentgen Ray Society, Radiological Society of North America, and the Southeastern Angiographic Society.

Dr. Whelan developed several medical devices while in practice in Louisville. One was a surgical T-Tube utilized after gallbladder surgery, known as the Whelan-Moss T-Tube. He obtained patents on this device in the U.S., Canada and Great Britain. Nearing retirement in Charlotte, continuing his life-long interest in hummingbirds, he developed the Dr. JB’s Clean Feeder, made in the USA. “JB” stands for Jay Bird, which was his nickname as a child, by friends, and then by his grandchildren.

Jay was involved with multiple social activities. He was the drum major for the Flaget High School band. Through the Jefferson County Playground and Recreation Board, in 1955, he traveled with 60 teenagers as Youth Ambassadors for Good Will to Havana Cuba. He was one of two persons invited by Fulgencio Batista to have dinner with him in Morro Castle. While in Charlotte, he became involved with ballroom dancing. In 1990, along with his instructor Terry Stigall, they won a Swing & Rhythm contest in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He was an avid golfer and was a member of Big Spring Country Club in Louisville, and Carmel C.C. in Charlotte. He played golf with several celebrities, Gabe Kaplin (Welcome Back Kotter), and with a female golf pro (Donna Caponi Young) in a Pro-Am tournament in Louisville.

Dr. Whelan was predeceased by his parents, Joseph G. Whelan, Sr. and Barbara Dorothy Whelan; sisters, Gayle A. Heselschwerdt, Patricia Elaine Swope and Sharon Whelan; and brothers Lawrence R. Whelan, William L. Whelan and Roger L. Whelan. He is survived by his sister, Nadine Kaelin. He is also survived by two sons, Joseph G. Whelan III, M.D. and Christopher H. Whelan; and daughter, Anne W. Henderson; as well as grandchildren, Jack Hawkins III, Christopher Hawkins, Elizabeth Whelan, William (Liam) Whelan, Maury Whelan and Joseph G. Whelan IV; and numerous nieces and nephews. He has performed extensive genealogical research of his Whelan family back to his 5^th great grandfather, Michael Whelan, 1716, County Cork, Ireland.

He was a member of Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Louisville, and of St. Peter Catholic Church in Charlotte.

A funeral mass will be held Monday, March 24, 2:00 PM at St. Peter Catholic Church (507 S. Tryon St., Charlotte, NC 28202). A subsequent funeral mass will be held in Louisville, KY, Friday, April 11 at 1:00 PM, Holy Spirit Catholic Church (3345 Lexington Rd., Louisville, KY 40206), followed by a burial service at Arch L. Heady Resthaven Memorial Park (4400 Bardstown Rd., Louisville, KY 40218).

Contributions on behalf of Dr. Whelan can be made to any of the following of his favorite charities:

Kosair Charities, Louisville, KY; https://www.kosair.org/

Diocese of Charlotte, Bishop Curlin Endowment Fund for the Poor; https://charlottediocese.org/

Catholic Charities of Louisville; https://cclou.org/

St. Martin of Tours, Flaherty, KY; https://stmartinfl.org/

Arrangements are in the care of Kenneth W. Poe Funeral & Cremation Service, 1321 Berkeley Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28204 (704) 641-7606. Online condolences may be shared at www.kennethpoeservices.com.