John David Pumphrey

1932 - 2012

John David Pumphrey, 80, died Saturday night, Nov. 17, 2012, at a hospital in Fort Worth. Graveside service: 1 p.m. Wednesday in Greenwood Memorial Park, 3100 White Settlement Road, Fort Worth, followed by a memorial service at 3:30 p.m. at First Christian Church, 2109 W. Highway 377 in Granbury. Visitation: 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Thompson's Harveson & Cole Funeral Home. Honorary pallbearers: Dr. David Braungardt, Mr. Earl Collins, Dr. Mark Collins, Dr. Wiltie Creswell, Mr. Don Edwards, Mr. Dwain Erwin, Dr. John Freese, Dr. Russell Lambert, Mr. John Melcher, Mr. Andrew Beal Pumphrey III, Mr. Eugene Regen, Dr. Charles Renshaw, Dr. Wallace Schmuck and Mr. Burch Waldron. Memorials: Gifts in his memory may be made to First Christian Church in Granbury or to a charity of choice. John was born April 2, 1932, at All Saints Hospital in Fort Worth, the son of Andrew Beal Pumphrey Sr., M.D., and Dave Maud Cummins Pumphrey. He was a junior historian at Arlington Heights High School and graduated in 1949. He attended the University of Texas and graduated from Texas Christian University in 1953. He met Virginia Robinson in 1954 on the Queen Elizabeth, married his Ohio bride in 1955 and lived happily ever after for 57 years. Dr. Pumphrey graduated from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston in 1957, interned at Charity Hospital of Louisiana at New Orleans and completed his urology residency at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. He opened his urology practice in Fort Worth in 1962. He served volunteer hours at John Peter Smith Hospital and UT Southwestern Medical Center. He was a certified member of the American Board of Urology and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He served as Chief of Surgery and as chief of medical staff at All Saints Hospital. He was respected by his peers and beloved by his patients. He so enjoyed the practice of medicine, interacting with his patients and their families. In addition to his busy office practice and a full surgery schedule, he routinely made rounds twice a day. He was a member of the Tarrant County Medical Society, Texas State Medical Society, American Association of Clinical Urologists and the American Urological Association. John was proud to belong to a family of medical doctors -- his son, brother, father, grandfather, great-uncle and now granddaughter-in-law. He was a member of Phi Gamma Delta, Alpha Kappa Kappa, the Ridotta Club and Shady Oaks Country Club, and was a commissioned Kentucky Colonel. He was a member of First Christian Church of Granbury. As a fifth-generation Texan, he had a great affection for his hometown of Fort Worth. John was proud of his Texas roots and traced his ancestry to the Republic of Texas. His great-great-grandfather, James Armstrong, served in the First Congress of the Republic and later signed the final document for the annexation of Texas to the United States. His grandfather, John Boyce Pumphrey, was a prominent cattleman and trail driver on the Chisholm Trail in the 1860s-70s. John was a man of many interests, several of which he shared with his big brother, Andy. He enjoyed antique furniture, old cars and trucks, lunching at the Paris Coffee Shop with friends, celebrating a common birthday with Charles and listening to Don sing old cowboy songs. He loved red roses, art work, cut glass, Navajo rugs, lead soldiers and flashlights. He was an avid hunter and especially enjoyed both Texas deer hunting with his lifelong friends and bird hunting in Argentina with Wiltie. He spent many happy days at the family farm in Ohio and was fortunate enough to have one last visit in October 2012. John loved his family and was a pillar of strength for his wife, Ginnie, children and grandchildren. He valued his good friends and enjoyed their company. He was a brave man and faced the last years of his illness without a complaint. He never lost his unique "John Pumphrey" sense of humor. The family is most grateful to the doctors and nurses for the expert and compassionate care given to him during his long illness. John David was preceded in death by his brother, Andrew Beal II, M.D. Survivors: Wife, Virginia Louise Robinson Pumphrey; children, Alice Anne Pumphrey, John Andrew Pumphrey, M.D., and wife, Kelly, Sarah Scott Pumphrey McCabe, D.V.M., and husband, Shaun; grandchildren, Charles Henry Erwin and wife, Jamie, Katharine Anne Erwin Gregory, R.N., and husband, Shawn, Alice Claire Miller, Parker Henry McCabe, Sarah Ellen McCabe, Samuel Halstead Pumphrey, John Scott McCabe, Mariah Jolene Pumphrey; great-grandchild, Georgia Louise Erwin; sister-in-law, Joeene Pumphrey and her children, Priscilla Bennett and husband, Stephen, Kathryn Vietti and husband, Don, Laura Baird and husband, Bruce, and Andrew Beal Pumphrey III; cousin, Eugene Regen and wife, Jennifer; and numerous other cousins.