By Ana Rodriguez Soto - Florida Catholic newspaper

CORAL GABLES | Archbishop Emeritus John C. Favalora will be the main celebrant of the funeral Mass for Dr. James Jude, 87, a longtime archdiocesan donor and cardiovascular surgeon who helped develop the life-saving technique of cardiopulmonary resuscitation — CPR.

The Mass will take place Friday, July 31, at 10 a.m. at St. Augustine Church and Catholic Student Center in Coral Gables. Dr. Jude died at his Coral Gables home July 28 after an extended illness.

Aside from his many other accomplishments, he was the surgeon who operated on two Miami archbishops — Archbishop Favalora and his predecessor, Archbishop Edward McCarthy — when they required open-heart surgery in the 1980s and 1990s.

"Archbishop McCarthy and I were among those whose hearts were literally held in his very talented and blessed hands,” Archbishop Favalora said.

“Dr. James Jude was a man of great scientific wisdom and skill, and he was a man of great faith,” the archbishop added. “For him there was never a conflict between the two; indeed they were very complementary, for there is really only one Truth. The doctor was rightly honored and respected by the medical, civic and Church community for his many good works. He shall be greatly missed by all, especially by those who were fortunate enough to be under his capable medical care.”

“He was an excellent surgeon. He worked at Mercy for many, many years and he never, ever refused a request for charity care,” said Sister Elizabeth Worley, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph and archdiocesan chancellor for administration who served as chairman of the board at Mercy Hospital for nearly 20 years.

“Dr. Jude has been very good to the Church,” she said.

He and his wife of 64 years, Sallye Jude, have been longtime contributors to ABCD, the archbishop’s annual appeal. They also have supported St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami and vocations in general through their involvement with the Miami Serra Club, where Sallye Jude served as president.

Dr. Jude is credited with developing CPR — a method of chest compression that has saved thousands of lives.

According to a 2011 profile published when he was honored by the City of Coral Gables, he “recognized the life-extending significance” of the work of two electrical engineers at Johns Hopkins Hospital, who in 1958 were working to develop an external defibrillator.

Dr. Jude “began to research how external cardiac massage to pump blood could extend the time in which they were able to defibrillate, or restore the normal heart rhythm,” initially in dogs. He then successfully applied those findings to human patients, “which led to the practice of CPR chest compression.”

He and his colleagues first reported on the method in 1960 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Three years later, CPR was formally endorsed by the American Heart Association.

“We were just doing research and this was an interesting observation and we pursued it and we had no moment that we thought that it was of great value. You didn’t think that way, you know. We just did it and reported it,” Dr. Jude recalled in that 2011 interview.

“We contributed one thing, at least something that’s of value,” he continued.

He added that meeting CPR recipients was a “great experience. I met people who once were dead or who would have been.”

Born June 7, 1928 in Maple Lake, Minn., Dr. Jude graduated from St. Thomas College in St. Paul and received his medical degree in 1953 from the University of Minnesota. He did a surgical internship followed by a residency in surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, then served as senior surgeon at the National Institutes of Health from 1956 to 1958.

Returning to Johns Hopkins, he rose to the rank of surgeon at the hospital and professor of surgery at the university. In 1964, he came to Miami to become professor of surgery and chief of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery at the University of Miami School of Medicine and Jackson Memorial Hospital. 

From 1971 until his retirement in 2000, he worked in private practice and performed surgery at various hospitals in Miami, Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale.

He also was active in civic and charitable organizations. He volunteered for the Sir Victor Sassoon Heart Foundation in the Bahamas, setting up a clinic to diagnose and operate on indigent children and adults with heart disease. While serving as president of the American Heart Association in Miami, he started Walk for Your Heart and Healthy Eating with Women for Heart. After Hurricane Andrew, he volunteered his medical services in Homestead.

Dr. Jude also authored more than 100 scientific articles and two books, “Fundamentals of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation” and “Coping with Heart Surgery and Bypassing Depression: A Family’s Guide to the Medical, Emotional and Practical Issues.”

In addition to his wife Sallye, he is survived by their seven children, 12 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, as well as a sister in Minnesota.

The family will receive visitors from 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, July 30, at Stanfill Funeral Home, 10545 S. Dixie Highway, Pinecrest.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Dr. Jude’s memory should be sent to The Heart & Vascular Institute at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Modified July 30, 2105: Quote from Archbishop Favalora was added and number of grandchildren was corrected. The Judes had a total of 13 but one is now deceased.