Lumpkin, Dr. Forrest Edward The life of Dr. Forrest Edward Lumpkin, Jr. ended on Tuesday May 5, 2009 as his body, but not his unquenchable spirit, failed him. Forrest was born on November 5, 1921 in Kaufman, TX at the house of his grandfather, Dr. James Walter Park, Sr., where his mother had also been born 28 years earlier. Young Forrest grew up in Terrell, TX and, in 1939, graduated from Terrell High School, as had his father. Forrest obtained his undergraduate education from the Rice Institute and the University of Texas obtaining a bachelor's degree from the latter in 1942. While a student at Texas he was an active member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity and remained close with many of his KA brothers for all his life. After college, Forrest studied medicine at Thomas Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia. After completing his internship at Jefferson, Forrest served his country as a medical officer in the US Army spending time overseas at the US Army hospital in Okinawa. After completing military service, Forrest entered and completed a surgical residency at Parkland Hospital in Dallas. He then opened private practice in Dallas as a general surgeon. After years of life as a bachelor, Forrest settled down and married Katherine Barbee Gaines, known as Kay, on August 5, 1961. Forrest and Kay were blessed by a son, Forrest III, on August 22, 1963. Before baby Forrest turned one, the elder Forrest took the family to Houston for a year to continue his medical training. He obtained a second specialization in peripheral vascular surgery in July of 1965 and then returned with his small family to Dallas in July where he again resumed his private practice. The family almost doubled in size when Forrest and Kay were again blessed with children, twin daughters, Katherine Pendleton Gaines Lumpkin and Vera Elizabeth Park Lumpkin, on December 3, 1966. Forrest, Kay, Forrest III, and the twins, known as Kathy and Libby, moved from North Dallas to Highland Park in 1969. Forrest enjoyed hunting, racquetball, tennis, skiing, swimming, travel, and coin and stamp collecting. He was an active member of Highland Park United Methodist Church and regularly attended its Wesleyan Fellowship Sunday School class. He was a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He was a member of the Dallas County Medical Association, the Texas Medical Association, the American Medical Association, and the Dallas County Society of General Surgeons. He was active in the YMCA and served for years on the Board of Directors for the Dallas YMCA's Camp Grady Spruce. He retired from active medical practice at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas in 1993, but remained involved in the field by regularly attending Presbyterian's Tumor Board. After retirement he indulged his passion for travel and ventured to Alaska, Russia, China -- including Hong Kong, India, the Mediterranean, Brazil, Mexico, and elsewhere. Forrest is survived by his three children: Forrest III, Elizabeth Lumpkin Williams, and Katherine Lumpkin Escoe, by the spouses of his children: respectively, the former Suzanne Sawyer, Steven Williams, and Gene Escoe, and by six young granddaughters. Forrest was preceded in death by his parents, Forrest Edward Lumpkin, Sr. and Vera Park Lumpkin and by his wife Kay. Visitation will be held Sunday, May 10 from 4 to 6 at the Restland funeral home. A memorial service celebrating Forrest's life will be held Monday, May 11 at 10 o'clock in the morning in the Sanctuary at Highland Park United Methodist Church. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to the Vera and Forrest Lumpkin Surgical Lectureship, UT Southwestern, PO Box 910888, Dallas, Texas 75391-0888.

Published in the Dallas Morning News