QUINCY, Mich. — Dr. John R. Letcher, a Toledo area interventional cardiologist initially inspired to practice medicine by his father’s illness who remained in search of the next innovation, died Tuesday at home in Hillsdale County. He was 62.

He died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack, said his wife, Donna Letcher. The couple, longtime Sylvania Township residents, had relocated to a lakefront home near Quincy, where he’d spent a vacation clearing trees felled during recent a storm. 

“That was his thing, working outside,” his wife said. “This was his pride and joy, because he took care of everything.”

Dr. Letcher remained in practice and was active in overseeing a program at ProMedica Toledo Hospital in which aortic valves are replaced via catheter, a minimally invasive procedure.

“He was a front-runner of innovation,” said his wife, who is a respiratory therapist. “He never settled for, ‘It’s just OK.’ It had to be the best. By every means possible he was a perfectionist.

“The structural heart program was near and dear to what he wanted to do,” she said. “It was the niche he was searching for since he got into cardiology.”

He answered questions about his future with, “Why would I retire when I absolutely love what I do?” his wife recalled, describing that as something he said “wherever we went.”

He helped build the program from the first, joined by cardiothoracic surgeons, said Dr. Don Crescenzo.

“John had an unbelievable pair of hands,” said Dr. Crescenzo, a cardiothoracic surgeon.  “As an interventional cardiologist, there was no case that was too tough for him.

“It’s a huge loss to the community. Everyone who knew him knew what a great cardiologist he was,” Dr. Crescenzo said.

As Dr. Letcher completed his medical training, he searched widely for places to work, and for places he and his wife could bring up children.

“Everyone wanted him because he was an interventional cardiologist,” his wife said. “He thought Toledo would be the best place to raise a family, because of the location and the resources. He loved everything about Toledo.”

His favorite pastime, even on vacation, was reading medical advances.

“He was never not on call,” his wife said.

Born Feb. 20, 1959, in Pottsville, Pa., to Helen and John Letcher, he was a graduate of Blue Mountain High School, where he played basketball and baseball. He received a bachelor’s degree from Albright College in Reading, Pa., and was a graduate of Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia.

“I chose cardiology because my father was ill and had a heart attack and a stroke,” Dr. Letcher said in a ProMedica video. “It was personal.”

He and his wife traveled the world and had been on 14 cruises.

“He was a wonderful family man,” Dr. Crescenzo said. “Despite being busy, Donna and the kids meant the world to him.”

Surviving are his wife, the former Donna Konsavage, whom he married June 8, 1985, two days after his medical-school graduation; daughter, Kim Lussier; sons, John “Jack” Letcher and Jeff Letcher, and sister, Jean Shappell. 

Friends will gather from 4-7 p.m. Thursday at Walker Funeral Home, Sylvania Township.

The family suggests tributes to Toledo Area Humane Society, Maumee.

First Published September 2, 2021, 4:00 a.m.