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- Commercial Appeal, The (Memphis, TN, USA) - January 6, 2004
Deceased Name: ' DR . SID ' WAS MORE THAN A MUNFORD DOCTOR
Dr . Albert Sidney Witherington Jr., ' Dr . Sid ' to everyone who knew him, practiced more than just medicine for more than 50 years in Munford.
Dr . Witherington helped start the House of Hope, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center. In 1997, the new Munford High football stadium was named for him because he volunteered as the team doctor.
He made house calls when needed and gave his time and energy to the community.
Sunday, Dr . Witherington died at Methodist Hospital North of complications from a stroke.
He was 89.
A native of Munford, Dr . Witherington followed his father and grandfather into the world of medicine.
But before his medical career got started he went to war. He spent three years in the South Pacific as a major in the U.S. Medical Corps during World War II.
He was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action after he pulled three wounded soldiers to safety during hostile fire at Bougainville, Solomon Islands.
He returned to the United States and married Eleanor Snider.
After graduating from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Dr . Witherington worked at Shreveport Charity Hospital in Louisiana. But he returned to his hometown in 1947 and shared a practice with Dr . Hugh Vaughn at the Munford Clinic.
"There are so many things to say about Dr . Sid . He was one of the most compassionate and kind people I've ever known. He was a Christian man who was loving and was there when you needed him," said his longtime friend Eleanor Talley.
Mrs. Talley along with her late husband, Vernon Talley, worked with Dr . Witherington at the House of Hope, a halfway house where residents received counseling and medical help. The House of Hope was started in 1977 and Dr . Witherington said it was one of his proudest accomplishments.
" Dr . Witherington, along with my husband, was the backbone of the House of Hope," Mrs. Talley said. " Dr . Witherington was always active in the community and gave back to so many. He was such a good person."
In 1993, when he was honored as Munford's first Outstanding Person of the Year, Dr . Witherington's response to the award was classic " Dr . Sid ."
"I appreciate it, but I can think of a lot of people I think are more qualified," he said then in an interview with The Commercial Appeal.
He was a member of the Munford Presbyterian Church, where he served as elder for more than 60 years.
Dr . Witherington, the widower of Eleanor Witherington, leaves two daughters, Rosemary Witherington Nelms of Memphis and Annie Laurie Butler of Munford; a son, Sid Witherington III of Germantown; a sister Mary Drew Griffin of Mason, Tenn., and two grandchildren.
Services will be Wednesday at 2 p.m. at the Munford Presbyterian Church. Burial will be at Ebenezer Cemetery in Mason.
The family requests memorials be sent to the House of Hope or the Munford Presbyterian Church in Munford.
Munford Funeral Home, Munford Chapel has charge.
- Yolanda Jones: 529-2380
Commercial Appeal, The (Memphis, TN, USA)
Date: January 6, 2004
Edition: Final
Page: B3
Record Number: 0FFEC8F603AECAB6
Copyright (c) 2004 The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, TN, USA [3]
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1914 - 2004 (89 years)
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