Obituary: Dr. Hamp Smead Pratt, Jr., 86, of Meriden

MERIDEN, CT - (From Wallingford Funeral Home) On May 22, 2021, Dr. Hamp Smead Pratt, Jr., a surgeon and physician who cared for patients in Meriden from 1967, passed away at the age of 86 of natural causes.

Dr. Pratt retired from surgery in 1999, but he never retired from being a true physician. He loved medicine and, as he said, “helping people get well, helping people feel better.”

After retiring from surgery he continued working at the Midstate Walk-in Center because he enjoyed seeing patients. As a provost at the Frank Netter Medical School at Quinnipiac College, he enjoyed teaching students how to help their patients feel cared for and how to create an environment of comfort, trust, and calm.

Dr. Pratt was born in El Dorado, AK, on July 31, 1934 to the late Hamp Smead Pratt, Sr., and the late Birdie Davis Pratt. He had one sister, the late Mary LaVerne Pratt, ten years his senior. His father passed away when he was six years old.

When he was a freshman in high school he shared with his mother and sister that, while he had thought about becoming a pastor, he had finally settled on medicine. Everyone doubted he would be able to achieve such a goal as his mother had been a poor widow.

But Hamp Pratt was determined. He dedicated himself to his studies by day and working in labs at night. A gifted student, he graduated from Bolton High School at the age of 16 and Pineville College in Louisiana by the age of 18. He was accepted into medical school at Louisiana State University and graduated in 1958 at the age of 21. Throughout his education he was inducted into honors societies such as Alpha Epsilon Delta (pre-med) and Alpha Omega Alpha (medical). He received his license to practice medicine at the age of 24.

He completed his internship and residency at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, went to Houston to MD Anderson and Baylor University’s cardiac clinic, and studied under the famed Dr. Michael E. DeBakey and Dr. Denton A. Cooley. He completed a fellowship in Guatemala as well as at Boston’s Lahey Clinic. It was at the Lahey Clinic that he met Dr. Francis Giuffrida of Meriden, who was terminally ill with cancer, and who invited Dr. Pratt to join his practice. He went on to serve tenures as Chief of Surgery and Chief of Staff at Meriden-Wallingford Hospital.

But medicine was not the only thing that captured Dr. Pratt’s heart. One day Dr. Pratt went to lunch alone in the cavernous cafeteria at the Veteran’s Hospital at MD Anderson in Houston. There was only one seat left in the entire room, next to a lovely nurse with blue eyes and dark hair.

A month later, Hamp married Sue Anna Bullock as the Berlin Wall Crisis meant that he was going to be sent overseas to Germany. The young couple remained in Europe for two years and stayed devoted to each other throughout their lives, having just recently celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary.

He lived in Meriden from 1967 where he and Sue maintained a home until he passed away. An early adopter of the newest technology, he was among the first to buy personal computers and had a TRS-80, a Macintosh and an IBM PC.

He learned laparoscopic surgery as soon as it became available. He was active in the Rotary Club and the Y’s Men of Meriden. Always musical, Dr. Pratt played the french horn for the Meriden Symphony and then the Cheshire Symphony, played piano at home and sang with the choirs, most recently at the First United Methodist Church.

To keep in good physical shape, he would play racquetball or tennis at 5 AM before going in to do his rounds of patients at the hospital. He never stopped studying medicine. He loved attending church on Sunday.

He is survived by his wife, Sue, and their four children, Mary G. Pratt of Woodside, NY, Elizabeth Susan Pratt, of Richmond, CA, James H. Pratt, PhD, of Round Rock, TX, and John S. Pratt, PhD, of Attleboro, MA. He is also survived by five grandchildren, Caitlyn M. and Toby C. Pratt of Round Rock, TX, and Julia G., Melanie R. and Tyler W. Pratt of Attleboro, MA.

His family will receive relatives and friends in The Wallingford Funeral Home, 809 N. Main St. Ext., Saturday, May 29th, from 10am to 12pm. A life celebration service will follow on Saturday at 2pm at the First United Methodist Church, 159 East Main St., Meriden.

A livestream of the service will be available on Dr. Pratt’s online obituary page on www.wallingfordfh.com.

Committal services and entombment in Lake Lawn Cemetery in New Orleans, LA, will be June 5th at 11am. Masks are required at all services.