In Memoriam: Dr. Will Sorey
Published on Tuesday, May 27, 2025
The Medical Center extends its sympathy to the family of a former faculty member in appreciation for the loved one’s contributions to the academic health sciences center.
Dr. Will Sorey
Dr. William Hugh Sorey, 67, a University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Medicine alumnus and a gifted pediatrician for 37 years, died of complications from early onset Alzheimer’s Disease on May 19, 2025. Services were held Saturday at Galloway Memorial United Methodist Church in Jackson.
Born on August 13, 1957, in Mobile, Alabama, to Robert and Elane Sorey, Sorey grew up in Pearl, where his numerous claims to fame included playing the tuba for the Pearl Pirate Band, being named the Boy Mayor and melting a hole through the asphalt parking lot of Pearl Junior High after using copious amounts of black powder as fuel for his working model of a volcano.
At the University of Mississippi, he was a member of Delta Psi Fraternity and the Pride of the South marching band. After receiving his MD at UMMC, he completed a residency in pediatrics and a fellowship in adolescent medicine at the Medical Center.
Armed with intelligence, compassion and a penchant for charming small children by quacking like a duck, Sorey cared for thousands of infants and children and tirelessly advocated for vital public health measures such as childhood vaccines. He spent most of his career practicing at Children’s of Mississippi, then known as Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children.
At UMMC, Sorey was also able to pursue his love of teaching. As a professor of pediatrics, he took special joy in mentoring the medical students and residents under his care and felt that being a teacher stood at the heart of his vocation as a doctor.
Of the numerous awards and honors he received during his career, the one most cherished by his family came about in 2019, when his peers honored his retirement with the creation of the Sorey Award, an honor now given annually to recognize outstanding teaching by a faculty member of the UMMC Department of Pediatrics.
“He and his family attended our faculty awards ceremony that year, and he was visibly touched by our honoring him in this way,” said Dr. Mary Taylor, professor and Suzan B. Thames Chair of Pediatrics. “Every year, this is one of the most coveted awards because it honors one of the most genuine and exemplary pediatricians who has ever served on our faculty.”
Taylor remembers Sorey as “a beloved member of the pediatrics faculty. He was well known for his kind and gentle nature as well as for his wit and unique little-known facts. Dr. Sorey was an excellent clinician and especially a phenomenal teacher. He had such an extensive knowledge to share, but most importantly, he was approachable and encouraging. He was truly a model pediatrician and will certainly be missed. We all hope that we can one day be the kind of teacher and doctor that he was.”
Dr. Anza Stanley, associate professor of pediatrics who learned from Dr. Sorey as a student in the UMMC School of Medicine, thinks of Dr. Sorey as “Mississippi’s Pediatrician.”
“It seemed like he was the primary care doctor for everyone, or at least it felt that way after he saw generations of children,” she said. “He was the model pediatrician who captivated parents and children alike, our own gentle giant. He knew everything about everything but never boastful about it. One of the most memorable compliments I received from a teacher turned colleague was from the late Dr. April Palmer after giving a lecture: ‘Dr. Sorey would be so proud of you.’ I always wanted to make him proud. He was most certainly a valued teacher, colleague and clinician, but I was also happy to call him friend. He will be missed.”
Dr. Jeffery Crout, professor of pediatrics and residency program director at UMMC, said Sorey was “an old-school pediatrician who was dedicated to taking care of each patient, whether on the inpatient service or in the clinic, in a manner that provided every child with what they needed and reassured parents that they were in great hands.”
He also shone as a faculty member, Crout said. “As a teacher, he won every award UMMC had to offer and was eventually retired from eligibility because he kept receiving the endorsement of students and residents. Will acted as a consultant for everyone in the hospital seeking an experienced opinion and was amazing at evaluating skin diseases. He photographed hundreds of dermatological cases and lectured on these dozens of times throughout his time at UMMC. His impact on pediatrics will on live on through those he trained for many years.”
When many at the Medical Center think of Sorey, it will be first as a friend.
“The best part of my experience with Will was his friendship, quick smile and willingness to encourage everyone with whom he worked,” Crout said.
Family was at Sorey’s heart, and he treasured time with his wife, Marti, and daughters Mary Rogers, Katie and Laura. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Sarah.
Sorey had many interests, ranging from fly fishing and kayaking to singing and playing the mandolin with the Galloway Bluegrass Band. He served as a commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve Medical Corps.
Memorials may be made to Galloway Memorial United Methodist Church; the Millsaps College Annual Fund; the McLean Fletcher Center; or Children's of Mississippi Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders.