The Frederick Press
Frederick, Oklahoma
June 5, 1952

Funeral services for Dr. J.E. Childers, 65, beloved pioneer physician, who passed away at his home in Tipton late Sunday evening were in the Methodist Church of Tipton at 4:00 Thursday afternoon. Rev. Walter H. Gilliam of Oklahoma City, former pastor of the Tipton Methodist Church, officiated. Interment was in the Tipton cemetery.

Joseph Edward Childers was born to Stephen H. and Amanda Childers on October 11, 1886, near Ripley, Mississippi. He received his elementary education there and was graduated from Vanderbilt Medical School, Nashville, Tennessee, in 1915.

He was married to Mattie Lois Gray on June 21, 1917 at Victory, near Altus. The first position he held in Oklahoma was in 1919 as reservation physician for the Arapaho Indians at Colony and the Caddos and Comanches at Anadarko. He kept up his practice there until six years later when he moved to Tipton.

Childers was active in many civic and church affairs in Tipton. He was a life-long member of the Methodist Church He was a member of the Masonic lodge and the Order of the Eastern Star. Among his civic activities, Childers had served as president of the Tillman County Medical Society and was the county health officer for a number of years. He was a charter member of the Tipton Lions Club and Chamber of Commerce and was active in Air Medics. He has held the office of Examiner for the Civil Aeronautics Administration in Tillman County and at the time of his death was physician for the MKT railroad. He had also served on the Tipton School Board. Childers was admired and respected by all who knew him.

Survivors include his wife, Mrs. Mattie Gray Childers of Tipton; two sons, Dr. Stanley Gray Childers, Cantonnent, Florida, and William Norman Childers, Grand Prairie, Texas; six grandchildren; two brothers, John Childers and Obie Childers, both of Ripley, Mississippi; and two sisters, Mrs. Jennie Clark, Ripley, Mississippi and Mrs. Clara Austin, Altus.

Angie Mitchell Martin