Dr. Richard Wooten's Obituary
Dr Richard Lindsey Wooten, born May 14, 1924 in Jackson, TN to Mr. and Mrs. Roger Barton Wooten, (Mabel Hawkins Wooten) died, March 29, 2012. As a child he studied music, E flat alto saxophone and piano, and entertained audiences on radio station WTJS for several months, till moving to Memphis, with his parents, at age 12. Shortly after arriving in Memphis he joined the Colie Stoltz Big Band and continued to entertain while earning spending money! As a student at Central High School, Dick remained very active in his musical and theatrical pursuits. He is well remembered for his low budget, but high quality and highly entertaining movies he produced and directed, starring many of his Central High School, now, many prominent, Memphis friends! Dr. Wooten attended Vanderbilt University, and following his graduation, he pursued medicine at University of Tennessee, Memphis. Marrying his high school sweetheart, Virginia Strode, they moved to Evanston, Illinois where he attended his Residency and Internship Programs in Internal Medicine at Northwestern University. Called to the United States Air Force, Dick further distinguished himself in service to our country during the Korean War, even being sent to Seoul, South Korea. Upon completion of his military duties, he returned to complete his medical training. An active and successful and no less entertaining, medical career ensued upon his return to Memphis. He was Board Certified in Internal Medicine, where he served his patients and the Memphis community as one of the founding partners at Memphis Clinic of Internal Medicine, where he practiced for 40 years. He served as Chief of Staff of The Baptist Hospital, serving over 2000 beds, the largest private hospital in the world, at that time! Dr Wooten was a distinguished member of the American College of Physicians. Several medical publications, most famously remembered, “The Orange Man”, for which he received acclaim, was published in JAMA (Journal of American Medical Association), picked up and republished in New Yorker Magazine, several worldwide newspapers, and the public school publication, The Weekly Reader. Dr Wooten’s passion for music was furthered enjoyed when he formed, with a fellow physician and friend, Dr Bernard Patrick, “The Doctor’s Band”. This band continues to entertain audiences today! Dr Wooten also found great joy playing the piano for his Sunday school class at Second Presbyterian Church. His love of life, music, and adventuresome travel brought him and his “most loving wife” Ginny, to Europe. Together with their three children, they traveled to national parks throughout the United States. He especially enjoyed their fishing trips to the Florida Keys. A most memorable, artistic production of the the doctor’s avocation, as a film director, “Delivery”, was filmed in collaboration with his sons, while canoeing the Nantahala River. Fishing weekends at his Kentucky Lake lake house, with his sons, evolved into an annual springtime extended weekend, eventually welcoming his grandsons to this highly anticipated “Wooten Bass Fishing Club”. He is survived by his devoted twin sons, Kent Lindsey Wooten of Kansas City, Kansas, (wife, Nanette “Peete” Wooten), Robert Strode Wooten, (wife, Mary Beth Wood Wooten), son in law, Richard Patterson, (Cynthia Wooten Patterson-deceased); grandchildren: Phillip Andrew Barnes, of Memphis and his wife, Tara Scott Barnes, great granddaughter, Hadley; Lindsey Barnes Raby, of Knoxville, her husband, Justin Raby, and great-grandson Jackson; Andrew Lake Wooten, St. Louis, Missouri, Ross Lindsey Wooten, Manhattan, Kansas; David Richard Wooten, Sydney, Australia, Jennifer Adair Wooten, Cleveland, Ohio and her fiancé Matthew Beesley, and Conor Barton Wooten, Chicago, Illinois; and his best friend for 20 years, Mildred Mc Carley. Dick joins his wife, Virginia Strode Wooten, “Ginny”, and their daughter, Cynthia, in heaven along with his parents and brother, Roger B. Wooten. Services will be held at Memorial Park Funeral Home. Visitation will be Saturday, from 4:00 until 6:00. His funeral service will be held on Sunday, April 1st at 1:30 PM with burial to follow at Memorial Park Cemetery. The family requests donations be sent to The Church Health Center or the American Diabetes Association, in lieu of flowers. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery, 5668 Poplar Ave. Memphis, TN 38119, (901)767-8930, “Behind the Stone Wall”.
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