Obituaries

Dr. Denmark, World's 4th Oldest Person Dies in Athens

Doctor Leila Denmark, a longtime Alpharetta resident, dies at age 114.

The world has lost one of the its oldest residents with the death April 1 of Leila Denmark, a former Alpharetta resident. She was the 4th oldest person in the world.

She had been getting round-the-clock medical care for many weeks. She moved to Athens from Alpharetta – where she practiced medicine until she was 103 – a few years ago and lived on Morton Avenue with her daughter and only child, Mary Denmark Hutcherson. 

Dr. Denmark was graduated in 1926 from the Medical College of Georgia, the third woman to do so, according to a story in the Athens Banner Herald. She moved to Atlanta and was the first resident at Egleston Children's Hospital.

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According to her website, Dr. Denmark opened a practice in her home after Mary was born in 1930. She subsequently practiced pediatric medicine in her Atlanta home, then in Sandy Springs and finally Forsyth County, for 71 years.

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She was devoted to her patients and their parents. She wrote a self-published book, Every Child Should Have A Chance, that contained her common-sense ideas on child rearing and health. It sold thousands of copies.

That's not the only book that contained her knowledge. Madia Bowman of Cumming wanted to compile the advice Denmark had given her over the years. That was fine by the pediatrician, but she wanted her to write a book. What resulted was Bowman's "Dr. Denmark Said It: Advice to Mothers from America's Most Experienced Pediatrician," according to a story by Appen Newspapers.

In 2000 she received the annual Heroes, Saints and Legends award, presented by the Wesley Woods Center at Emory University, Appen Newspapers reported.

She is survived by her daughter, two grandsons and two great grandchildren. The funeral is Thursday at 1pm at First United Methodist Church. Burial is Friday at 11am in Bulloch County, where she was born.


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