Dr. Jack D. Real

Dr. Jack D. Real

Dr. Jack D. Real of Dothan, Alabama, died March 2, 2023, of congestive heart failure. He was 91.

Dr. Real received his medical degree from the University of Alabama and his training as a urologist at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. After thirteen years of service in the Navy, he joined Urological Associates of Dothan, but continued to serve in the Naval Reserve, ultimately retiring with the rank of Captain.

Jack was universally respected by his colleagues and loved by his patients, thousands of which he treated as a urologist, and scores more in the decade that followed his official retirement, when he served as the on-site doctor for the wound-care clinic of Southeast Alabama Medical Center.

When he wasn't practicing medicine, Jack spent his time on the tennis court. His love of the game began in an era before the sport became mainstream, in the 1940s when he was a young boy growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, where he learned to play on a public court within walking distance of his family's home in the Norwood section of the city. He continued to play for most of his life, at his home court as well as at the Dothan Country Club, Olympia Spa and the Tops'l Tennis complex in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida.

Jack was born on September 1, 1931, in Birmingham, where he lived until he graduated medical school and joined the Navy. His parents were both children of sharecroppers in North Alabama, and first-generation college graduates. His mother taught elementary school and his father was an accountant for Alabama Mills, and later for Miles College. Jack attended Lake View Elementary, Phillips High School and Birmingham-Southern College, where he served on the Honor Council and was President of Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity.

Among friends and family, Jack was known for his story-telling talent, and his recounting of entertaining anecdotes in colloquial detail. They are tales that in part and parcel defined his life as a small-town doctor dedicated to the practice of medicine, who loved fine automobiles, jazz music and German Shepherd dogs. When he no longer had to report to surgery at the crack of dawn, Jack could be seen in the early-morning drive-thru lane in his convertible Mercedes, with Stan Getz on the stereo and his faithful dog, Jill in the passenger seat beside him, the two of them ready to face the day ahead after a breakfast of egg scramblers. As his close friend and colleague Dr. Charles Connor said, he will be missed mightily.

Jack was preceded in death by his parents, Eunice Cunningham and James Henry Real; his sister, Jimmie Nell Real Powell; his first wife, Frances Sensabaugh; his second wife, Linda Berry; and his daughter, Kathleen Real Carter. Survivors include his three children, Frances Real Howard (Buddy), Greer Real Tirrill (John), Douglas D. Real (Sonja); and four grandchildren, George (Jack) B. Howard IV, Mary Holmes Tirrill, John Brown Tirrill III and James Carter.

A private interment will be held at Memory Hill Cemetery. In remembrance of Jack's life, the family will receive visitors on Monday, March 6, from 4 to 6 p.m., at 805 Girard Avenue, Dothan Alabama. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the charity of one's choice.

Robert Byrd of Sunset Memorial Park Funeral Home (334) 983-6604 www.SunsetMemorialPark.com