Obit of Petty M.D., James Sturges - Logan County, Oklahoma Submitted by: Gene Phillips 8 May 2005 Return to Logan County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/logan/logan.html ========================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ========================================================================== Petty M.D., James Sturges James Sturges Petty, M.D., 93, passed away Thursday morning, January 30, 2002 at the Golden Age Nursing Home in Guthrie, Oklahoma. Dr. Petty was preceded in death by his parents Dr. Clarence Sibley ('C. S.') Petty and Florence Sturges Petty of Guthrie, his wife Germaine Elizabeth Hallenbeck Petty, and three sisters, Mary Claire Hardwick of Los Angeles, California, Peggy Joyner of Wichita, Kansas and Helen Johnson of Edmond, Oklahoma. He is survived by two sons, James Sibley and Patricia Petty of Edmond, Oklahoma and William Dooley and Nancy Petty of Littleton, Colorado, a daughter, Germaine Louise Bohlman of Oklahoma City, eight grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren. Born August 20, 1909, Dr. Petty grew up in Guthrie, graduated from Guthrie High School in 1927, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry at the University of Oklahoma in 1931. He graduated from the OU School of Medicine in 1935 with his degree in Medicine. He served a one-year internship at the Washington University Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, before returning to Guthrie to enter medical practice with his father. During his internship, he returned briefly to Guthrie to marry Germaine Hallenbeck (whom he called 'Suzy'), the love of his life, on September 9, 1935. Prior to World War II, Dr. Petty was a member of the Oklahoma National Guard, and during the war served as a medical officer in the China-Burma-India Theater. He returned home in November 1945 and resumed his medical practice in Guthrie. He helped train new doctors in family practice. He was a member of the American Medical Association (AMA) and a President of the Oklahoma State Medical Association. He served on the Board of Regents for the Oklahoma state teachers colleges. He was a railroad doctor for the Santa Fe and a medical examiner for the Logan County Selective Service Board. He was also a member of the planning council for the Oklahoma Medical Center in Oklahoma City. Dr. Petty retired from his medical practice in Guthrie in 1976, and he and Germaine moved to Oklahoma City, where he worked part time as a doctor at the Bone and Joint Hospital and at the Dayton Tire Plant. From youth, Dr. Petty was always keenly interested in the world around him, especially things scientific and technical. As a young man he worked for a time on a surveying team in southern Oklahoma and as a park ranger in Yellowstone National Park. He was interested in photography and enjoyed astronomy, fishing, sailing and listening to classical music. He was widely read and had a large library of books on all subjects. In 1954, he bought an airplane and learned to fly. He loved flying, and flew until 1963 when surgery forced him to stop. He built and installed the first remote heart monitor at Guthrie's Alverno Heights Hospital. He was a founder of the Oklahoma City Computer Club. In 2002, he and Dr. Robert Ringrose of Guthrie served as Grand Marshals for the '89ers Day Parade in Guthrie. In his years of medical practice, Dr. Petty touched countless lives, brought thousands of babies into the world, healed the sick and injured, and comforted the dying. He and his wife loved children, and their door was always open to neighborhood kids. Dr. Petty's family wishes to express their deep appreciation to the Golden Age Nursing Home for the loving care he received. No services are planned. And Dr. Petty's family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to a favorite charity. Published in the Oklahoman on 2/2/2003. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to Logan County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/logan/logan.html