Dr. Forrest Edward Lumpkin Jr.'s Obituary
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, as had his father before him, he graduated from Terrell High School. 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 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 where they had a home for nearly forty years on Maplewood Ave. Forrest and Kay raised their children in the Maplewood house through their graduation from Highland Park High School and, after college, their respective marriages. During his adult life, Forrest enjoyed hunting, racquetball, tennis, skiing, swimming, travel, playing bridge, coin collecting, and stamp collecting. He was an active member of Highland Park United Methodist Church and regularly attended its Wesleyan Fellowship Sunday School class. With an outgoing personality, he had numerous friends from the many stages and phases of his life. He was devoted to these friends and especially to his family. He almost never went somewhere without running into someone he knew. 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, being devoted to developing young lives, served for years on the Board of Directors for the Dallas YMCA’s Camp Grady Spruce. Despite his passion for his chosen profession, he reluctantly retired from active medical practice at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas in 1993. He however remained involved in the field by regularly attending Presbyterian’s Tumor Board — although some say the free lunch was the big draw. 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. He is also survived by six young granddaughters: Jennifer Lumpkin, Anna Lumpkin, Nikki Escoe, Gracie Escoe, Dodie Escoe and Lindsay Williams; and by cousins: Claudie Wilson and Joe Buck Caldwell. Forrest was preceded in death by his parents, Forrest Edward Lumpkin, Sr. and Vera Park Lumpkin and by his wife Kay. Visitation was held Sunday, May 10 from 4 to 6 at the Restland funeral home. A memorial service celebrating Forrest’s life was held Monday, May 11 at 10 o’clock in the morning at Highland Park United Methodist Church, Main Sanctuary, 3300 Mockingbird Lane, Dallas, TX 75208. 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.
What’s your fondest memory of Forrest?
What’s a lesson you learned from Forrest?
Share a story where Forrest's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Forrest you’ll never forget.
How did Forrest make you smile?