Department of Family Medicine & Community Health

Having both lost siblings — and seen young people die as they trained during the early days of the AIDS epidemic — Drs. Cathy and George Willis pledged to experience as much of the world as possible while they could.

They called her the Mother Teresa of Jackson Memorial Hospital,’‘ her husband said. ``She just gave and gave and gave. She always gave the patient a `five-year warranty.

A physician who spent more than three decades on the UM/Jackson medical campus, dating back to her days as a Miller School medical student, has died at the age of 56. Catherine Willis, M.D., passed away Tuesday, November 16, after a brief illness.

Dr. Willis graduated from medical school in 1982 and did her residency in internal medicine at Jackson Memorial Hospital.