By Carmen Brown
Photos by Lloyd Beard & Contributed
Jatonia Dial clearly remembers the first time she met Mack Barnes.
She had awakened in the morning after a surgery for what she thought were just fibroids. Then, at her bedside, she saw who she described as a “nice, handsome man with a cool swag about him.”
“He told me he was a GYN oncologist, and I said, ‘Oncologist—does that mean it’s cancer? And he said, ‘It is,’” Jatonia says.
Mack proceeded to tell her that she had a cancerous tumor on her left ovary. Then he paused, and she paused, as a couple of tears rolled down her cheeks.
“He gave you that pause moment,” Jatonia says. “He had a nice, calm voice. I always felt comfortable with him. He gave me that attention that I needed.”
Stories like hers abound in praise for Mack, who passed away after an extended illness at the age of 60 on June 24, 2023. Known as a “pioneer” in the field of gynecologic oncology, Mack left a void that continues to be felt by hundreds—patients, family, friends and co-workers—who will always remember him as an exceptional physician with one-of-a-kind compassion.
Jatonia says other cancer patients she has met feel the same way she does about him; he made all of them feel special, caring for them as people and encouraging them even in the darkest times in their journeys.
“He was genuine; a godsend,” Jatonia says. “I talked about him so much to my sister that when she had to have a procedure done, her doctor referred her to him.”
Jatonia first received her diagnosis of ovarian cancer, which has an average survival rate of five years, in 2013. Her last surgery with Mack was in 2020, and she is still taking chemotherapy.
“He called me his miracle patient,” she says. “We talked about faith, and he asked me where I got my strength from. I told him I pray for myself, but I pray for him as well.”
Mack was known for calling every patient the night before surgery to answer any questions and offer personal support, and Jatonia says that was one of the qualities about him she loved most.
“I never panicked or questioned anything when I went under the knife with him,” she says.
Monjri Shah first met Mack in 2010, when she interviewed with him for a fellowship at UAB where he was practicing at the time.
“I had been living in Manhattan, and one of the first things he told me is that Birmingham is different from New York, and it might take time to adjust to a different culture,” Monjri says. “He was a mentor from the start.”
After her fellowship, in 2014, Monjri joined Mack at Alabama Oncology Group, where he had started his private practice three years earlier.
“It was basically just him and me for nine years,” Monjri says. “Once I was out of training, he showed me how to be an oncologist, how to talk to patients, how to be efficient. All the things that make you an oncologist, I learned from him.”
Mack himself learned about patient care from his father, Mack Barnes II, a neurosurgeon in Memphis. In a profile story published a few years ago on birminghammedicalnews.com, Mack described how he would often go on rounds with his father on the weekends and shadow him during summers.
Mack graduated from Wake Forest University in 1985. Inspired by his father, he went on to earn his medical degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1991.
After completing his residency in OBGYN at Northwestern University, he relocated to Birmingham after receiving a fellowship in gynecologic oncology at UAB. In the article, Mack reflected on the “caring approach” for which he was known: “I love what I do; it’s a blessing to go to work every day…I view what I do as a service to the patient, and I hope the joy I get out of it is transmitted to them.”
Mack devoted much of his career to research that revolutionized the field of gynecology, and he was a huge advocate of spreading awareness about the importance of early detection. When he wasn’t spending time with his family—his wife, Nicky; sons Mack IV, Cooper, Camden and Elijah—Mack was heavily involved with the Laura Crandall Brown Foundation (LCBF).
Located in Hoover, the LCBF was established in honor of Laura, who lost her battle with ovarian cancer at the young age of 25 in 2009. Now celebrating its 15th anniversary, the LCBF works to fund research as well as provide emotional and financial assistance to women with ovarian cancer and other GYN cancers.
Every year, he attended the Head Over Teal 5K/10K and the Taste of Teal Gala fundraisers and even received the first Healthcare Hero Legacy of Laura Award for his outstanding work with the GYN cancer community.
Jennifer Smiley, who serves on the advisory board for LCBF, says her mother, aunt and stepmother were all patients of Mack’s. She says he was very involved with patient support through the CanSurvive Cancer Community, which began in 2006 and merged with the LCBF in 2015.
“It’s a safe place, where patients can feel sad if they’re sad, ask questions if they have questions,” Jennifer says. “It’s also a safe place for medical personnel, who get to see their patients have fun and enjoy life. He was there for everything. Even if it was a Sunday, he always made sure he came and was there to hug their necks.”
Jennifer says a remembrance celebration was held about a month after Mack’s funeral service. Approximately 40 people attended, including current patients, former patients or surviving family members, co-workers and LCBF staff and board members.
“Everyone went around the room and took turns sharing stories about him,” Jennifer says. “There were even patients and family members from years ago and people in the medical community he worked with in the past that all came to remember him and share what he had taught them, how he supported them or what he meant to them.”
She says Mack will be greatly missed, as he could relate to his patients, and they thought of him as a friend.
“He had a lot of knowledge and great advice to share, which I really valued,” Jennifer says. “He was a genuinely caring person who made the time and effort to establish very meaningful relationships with those around him.”
In the eyes of Jatonia, Monjri, Jennifer and countless others, Mack Barnes died a hero—a man whose legacy will forever be remembered because of his kindness and his dedication to serving others above himself.
