Jimmie Lee Woolbright
February 25, 1932 - November 2, 2019 Jimmie Lee Woolbright, 87, pass away peacefully on November 2, 2019, at Fleet Landing, Atlantic Beach, Fla., where he lived for the past 25 years with his wife, Letha (Kuhler) Woolbright. They celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary this year. Along with his wife he is survived by his six younger siblings: William Henry Woolbright, Nina Luann Frazier, Jane Louise Whitaker, Thomas Dalton Woolbright, Daniel Joe Woolbright and Jackie Shane Woolbright. He had four children: Nancy Lynn Woolbright, who preceded him in passing, Mark Wesley Woolbright, Duane Nicholas Woolbright, and Athea Beth Woolbright. He also had three grandchildren — Evan Henry Woolbright, Hannah Nell Woolbright and Emma Tobias Woolbright — and two great-grandchildren: Lana Bryce and Alaric Barnabus.
Born February 25, 1932, during the height of the depression, Jimmie was raised in the home his parents, Henry and Nellie Woolbright, built by hand in rural Siloam Springs, Arkansas. With no electricity, phone or running water, he optimistically would say they were never in need. His mother Nellie, who lived until 2016, to the age of 104, tried to keep fresh food from the garden (and her small farm) on the table. A diligent student, Jimmie walked miles to and from the Jay Bird School and worked as a soda jerk in the town’s drug store from the age of 14, forming his plan to become a pharmacist. He attended Northeastern State Teachers College in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, living on his grandparent’s sleeping porch for a time. There he also joined the local National Guard, for extra income, and was soon called to the front lines of the Korean War in 1950. He served two years as a medic in the Army’s 45th Infantry Division (Thunderbirds). Jimmie was recommended for a Silver Star for his actions during the conflict. After the war, he adjusted his career plans to physician and leveraged the GI Bill to attend Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Missouri.
There he met his wife, Letha, who was attending the nearby teacher’s college. A few years after marriage, Jimmie set up practice in the small northern Missouri town of Breckenridge, where he was one of only three doctors in the entire county. He quickly became a city father to its 605 residents, throwing himself not only into patient house calls but improving the town any way he could. He served as a councilman and city clerk and was appointed county coroner by the state’s governor. He did much to improve the town’s infrastructure through grants and civic projects.
However, after almost 20 years, he made a drastic career change, stating “one should do something completely new at least once in their lives.” He gave up his small-town life and practice, which his youngest brother would later compare to that of George Baily, since he had selflessly helped his community at the expense of his own plans. But in 1976 he went after his dreams to see the world and do something new. He accepted a commission in the U.S. Air Force at the age when most would be retiring from active duty. At age 45, he became a flight surgeon. He quickly rose to the rank of colonel and would spend seven years approving flights for the famed SR71 and U2 pilots at Beale Air Force Base in California. He later moved to duties at Wilford Hall Hospital, Lackland Air Force Base, in San Antonio. When he retired from his last post at Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama, after 18 years in his second career, it was noted in the Air Force Times that Col. Woolbright retired as the last active duty Korean War Veteran remaining in any branch of the Armed Forces.
In 1994, he and his wife moved to the Fleet Landing community in Atlantic Beach, Florida, where they enjoyed the company of other military retirees. With an active life, Jimmie continued to keep a hand in medicine and was a sought-after speaker at medical conventions for his work in advancing osteopathic manipulation and wrote many journal articles to that topic. He also joined the Saint Andrews Society’s Scottish Military Honor Guard and was an avid gardener who would give the community’s landscape crew fits for planting his beloved azaleas in any bare patch of soil he could find. He was a voracious reader his entire life, but in retirement also took to writing for pleasure as he researched and collected his family genealogy, penning more than five volumes of the history of his direct and extended families. He also wrote a 600-page book of his memories and opinions on a wide array of subjects that he continued to edit and perfect for a final edition well into his last year.
His friendliness, musings and larger-than-life laughter will be sorely missed by his friends, family and all who knew him.
A celebration of life with Military Honors will be held at Fleet Landing’s Leeward Manor, Dec. 16 at 10:30 a.m. Jimmie Lee Woolbright will be interred at a later date at the Jacksonville National Cemetery, Jacksonville, Florida.
Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to the Mercy Ships Charity, bringing medical care to those less fortunate in conflicts overseas. Visit www.mercyships.org.
PAID OBITUARY