George Denman (“Denny”) Hammond was born in Atlanta, Georgia on February 5th, 1923 to Percy Waters Hammond & Elizabeth Denman Hammond. He was graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in Medical Science, and completed his MD degree, internship and residency at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.  Denny went on to become an internationally known pioneer in the treatment of childhood cancers. He married Florence (“Polly”) Elizabeth Williams, becoming her lifelong sweetheart during their marriage of 67 years.  During the Korean War, he served as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Navy.

Denny gave his life’s efforts to the development of integrated multidisciplinary treatment of childhood cancers, and served as Head of the Division of Hematology-Oncology at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.  He had a distinguished career on the faculty of the University of Southern California School of Medicine, rising to Associate Vice President for Health Affairs.  He was instrumental in the development and funding of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, serving as its Founding Director.  Denny founded and was President and CEO of the National Childhood Cancer Foundation (NCCF) (now “CureSearch for Children’s Cancer”), and continued in that position for many years. He also served as Group Chairman of the Children’s Cancer Study Group, and held important leadership positions in the American Cancer Society and National Cancer Institute. Denny retired from the USC Keck School of Medicine on June 30, 2006, then serving as Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics.  

He loved camping and fishing in the Sierras with his family, furniture making, home landscape & garden projects, and seeing the continual growth and development of his children, grandchildren, and great grandsons.  A man of great curiosity, he pursued wide-ranging interests:  restoring and rebuilding classic Porsches; curing his own olives; collecting and polishing rocks; international travel; and doing magic tricks for his family and friends.

Denny is survived by his sister Elizabeth Penn (“Penny”) Hammond Vieau, and by his children Lane Elizabeth Hammond Clark, Bruce Benedict Hammond and Kirk Denman Hammond, eight grandchildren and two great grandsons. He is preceded in death by his beloved wife Polly, and by his son Christopher Scott Hammond.

In lieu of flowers, our family asks that you consider honoring Denny by making a tribute gift to any of these organizations that have been the major part of his life’s work: 

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, attn: Terry Green, 4650 Sunset Blvd, #29, Los Angeles CA 90027; or

USC Norris Cancer Center, attn: Robert Weiner, Development,  1441 Eastlake, #8302, Los Angeles, CA 90089; or

CureSearch for Children’s Cancer, online at  https://curesearch.org/dennyhammond/ or checks to CureSearch, attn: Melisse Skelton, Donor Development, PO Box 45781, Baltimore, MD 21297-5781.