Myron Lamar "Poochie" Arrington, M.D., age 78, died Saturday, November 1, 2008, All Saints Day, at the residence of his daughter Mary in Jackson, Mississippi. Funeral services will be held in Prentiss, Mississippi, on Wednesday, November 5, 2008, beginning with Visitation at 10 am and services at 11 am at Prentiss Presbyterian Church, with a luncheon to follow at the M.L. Arrington Fitness and Rehab Center, 1110 Berry St., in Prentiss. A burial service with full military honors will follow at 3:30 pm at Lakewood Memorial Cemetery in Jackson, Mississippi, where Dr. Arrington will be laid to rest next to his beloved wife and daughter, Bessie Burton Morgan Arrington and Ethel Ann Arrington Cruise. Wright & Ferguson of Jackson, Mississippi, will be handling arrangements.
Dr. Arrington was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, on September 16, 1930, the son of Ethel Ramsey Arrington and Richard Olney Arrington, Sr. Mr. Arrington was a Justice on the Mississippi Supreme Court, where he served with distinction for some ten years prior to his death in 1963; Mrs. Arrington practiced trial law in Hazlehurst to age 84.
Dr. Arrington was predeceased by both parents; his brother, Richard Olney Arrington, Jr.; sister, Nancy Arrington Bryant; daughter, Ethel Ann Arrington Cruise of Jackson; and wife, Bessie.
A graduate of Hazlehurst High School and the University of Mississippi, Dr. Arrington earned his M.D. from Tulane Medical School in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1954, the same year he won the hand of Bessie Burton Morgan of Oxford, Mississippi. Of his many honors and achievements in his life, he always knew that Bessie was his greatest gift. Dr. Arrington served as a flight surgeon in the United States Air Force until 1958, and the small but growing family moved from Alexandria, Louisiana, to Prentiss, Mississippi, in 1959. For the next 44 years he practiced medicine in Prentiss. Simultaneously, Dr. Arrington served with the 155th Infantry Battalion of the Mississippi National Guard, retiring in 1990 with the rank of Brigadier General.
He was known by all who met him as "Poochie," and later "Doc." He called himself a "country doctor" always, because it was humble. And in truth he birthed generations of children in Prentiss and the surrounding counties, taking care of entire families, old and new patients without respect to race at a time when doing so was neither profitable nor popular. He confessed an inability to ask anyone for pay, and in fact he and Bessie raised five children in substantial part on chicken, venison, fish, vegetables and all manner of bartered gifts from his patients all over South Mississippi. He possessed a quality that is increasingly precious for its scarcity: a bedside manner that gave his patients the confidence that together they could overcome every pain and defeat any ailment. He believed his patients, understood their fears and what would comfort them no matter the medical prognosis. To each he passed on his own knowledge of and belief in the gift of life as he knew it, and he never quit on anybody.
But he was more. Dr. Arrington was recognized far and wide as an unsurpassed diagnostician of any illness or condition, particularly those that eluded the specialists. He brought to each patient the most advanced treatment that current medical literature recommended, and he got people well who had been returned to the small hospital in Prentiss to die. He literally read everything, not just about medicine but history and literature, and he remembered all of it, down to the page number and paragraph of quotes worthy of his vast store of knowledge. It was impossible to determine whether he was a genius or had a photographic memory or just the benefit of vast experience that he remembered verbatim, but in the end none of that mattered to his family and friends who relied on him. He was the only person who knew the best day of the year to plant tomatoes, how to build a fish pond or locate quail in a field other hunters thought they had exhausted, the name of every plant and vine he carefully cultivated in his eclectic and prized backyard, the best seasonings and the correct cooking temperature for the game or fish his son Jo Drake brought home, what the weather was going to do and when, as well as the most obscure literary allusion not just in Light in August but in Much Ado About Nothing. He combined his great wealth of knowledge with endless curiosity and good common sense, and he earned the deference of those fortunate enough to have cast their lot with him. There was no one remotely like him, and he will be missed every day in the lives of those who knew and loved him.
His friend Don Kruger of Prentiss recently recalled the first time he saw Doc, tending a patient during maneuvers at Camp Shelby in the early sixties. He was the first man to the patient, dropped to his knees in the mud during a pounding rain, worked on the soldier with his sleeves rolled up and sweating without any consideration of what was happening around him, and stayed with the patient until he brought relief. Don said he did not know that he was watching in that moment the course of a man's life. Dr. Arrington was the first to meet any dire circumstance, had the most knowledge to deal with it, and was the last to leave. As an officer in the field, a country doctor, a father and a friend, he was the best we had to offer.
Survivors include: daughters, sons, sons-in-law, and daughters-in-law, grandchildren and great-grandchildren
His pallbearers will be his grandsons.
Memorials may be made to the Dr. M.L. Arrington Fitness and Rehab Center, 1110 Berry St., Prentiss, Mississippi 39474.
Published in the Clarion Ledger from 11/3/2008 - 11/4/2008
Dr. Arrington was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, on September 16, 1930, the son of Ethel Ramsey Arrington and Richard Olney Arrington, Sr. Mr. Arrington was a Justice on the Mississippi Supreme Court, where he served with distinction for some ten years prior to his death in 1963; Mrs. Arrington practiced trial law in Hazlehurst to age 84.
Dr. Arrington was predeceased by both parents; his brother, Richard Olney Arrington, Jr.; sister, Nancy Arrington Bryant; daughter, Ethel Ann Arrington Cruise of Jackson; and wife, Bessie.
A graduate of Hazlehurst High School and the University of Mississippi, Dr. Arrington earned his M.D. from Tulane Medical School in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1954, the same year he won the hand of Bessie Burton Morgan of Oxford, Mississippi. Of his many honors and achievements in his life, he always knew that Bessie was his greatest gift. Dr. Arrington served as a flight surgeon in the United States Air Force until 1958, and the small but growing family moved from Alexandria, Louisiana, to Prentiss, Mississippi, in 1959. For the next 44 years he practiced medicine in Prentiss. Simultaneously, Dr. Arrington served with the 155th Infantry Battalion of the Mississippi National Guard, retiring in 1990 with the rank of Brigadier General.
He was known by all who met him as "Poochie," and later "Doc." He called himself a "country doctor" always, because it was humble. And in truth he birthed generations of children in Prentiss and the surrounding counties, taking care of entire families, old and new patients without respect to race at a time when doing so was neither profitable nor popular. He confessed an inability to ask anyone for pay, and in fact he and Bessie raised five children in substantial part on chicken, venison, fish, vegetables and all manner of bartered gifts from his patients all over South Mississippi. He possessed a quality that is increasingly precious for its scarcity: a bedside manner that gave his patients the confidence that together they could overcome every pain and defeat any ailment. He believed his patients, understood their fears and what would comfort them no matter the medical prognosis. To each he passed on his own knowledge of and belief in the gift of life as he knew it, and he never quit on anybody.
But he was more. Dr. Arrington was recognized far and wide as an unsurpassed diagnostician of any illness or condition, particularly those that eluded the specialists. He brought to each patient the most advanced treatment that current medical literature recommended, and he got people well who had been returned to the small hospital in Prentiss to die. He literally read everything, not just about medicine but history and literature, and he remembered all of it, down to the page number and paragraph of quotes worthy of his vast store of knowledge. It was impossible to determine whether he was a genius or had a photographic memory or just the benefit of vast experience that he remembered verbatim, but in the end none of that mattered to his family and friends who relied on him. He was the only person who knew the best day of the year to plant tomatoes, how to build a fish pond or locate quail in a field other hunters thought they had exhausted, the name of every plant and vine he carefully cultivated in his eclectic and prized backyard, the best seasonings and the correct cooking temperature for the game or fish his son Jo Drake brought home, what the weather was going to do and when, as well as the most obscure literary allusion not just in Light in August but in Much Ado About Nothing. He combined his great wealth of knowledge with endless curiosity and good common sense, and he earned the deference of those fortunate enough to have cast their lot with him. There was no one remotely like him, and he will be missed every day in the lives of those who knew and loved him.
His friend Don Kruger of Prentiss recently recalled the first time he saw Doc, tending a patient during maneuvers at Camp Shelby in the early sixties. He was the first man to the patient, dropped to his knees in the mud during a pounding rain, worked on the soldier with his sleeves rolled up and sweating without any consideration of what was happening around him, and stayed with the patient until he brought relief. Don said he did not know that he was watching in that moment the course of a man's life. Dr. Arrington was the first to meet any dire circumstance, had the most knowledge to deal with it, and was the last to leave. As an officer in the field, a country doctor, a father and a friend, he was the best we had to offer.
Survivors include: daughters, sons, sons-in-law, and daughters-in-law, grandchildren and great-grandchildren
His pallbearers will be his grandsons.
Memorials may be made to the Dr. M.L. Arrington Fitness and Rehab Center, 1110 Berry St., Prentiss, Mississippi 39474.
Published in the Clarion Ledger from 11/3/2008 - 11/4/2008
Myron Lamar "Poochie" Arrington, M.D., age 78, died Saturday, November 1, 2008, All Saints Day, at the residence of his daughter Mary in Jackson, Mississippi. Funeral services will be held in Prentiss, Mississippi, on Wednesday, November 5, 2008, beginning with Visitation at 10 am and services at 11 am at Prentiss Presbyterian Church, with a luncheon to follow at the M.L. Arrington Fitness and Rehab Center, 1110 Berry St., in Prentiss. A burial service with full military honors will follow at 3:30 pm at Lakewood Memorial Cemetery in Jackson, Mississippi, where Dr. Arrington will be laid to rest next to his beloved wife and daughter, Bessie Burton Morgan Arrington and Ethel Ann Arrington Cruise. Wright & Ferguson of Jackson, Mississippi, will be handling arrangements.
Dr. Arrington was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, on September 16, 1930, the son of Ethel Ramsey Arrington and Richard Olney Arrington, Sr. Mr. Arrington was a Justice on the Mississippi Supreme Court, where he served with distinction for some ten years prior to his death in 1963; Mrs. Arrington practiced trial law in Hazlehurst to age 84.
Dr. Arrington was predeceased by both parents; his brother, Richard Olney Arrington, Jr.; sister, Nancy Arrington Bryant; daughter, Ethel Ann Arrington Cruise of Jackson; and wife, Bessie.
A graduate of Hazlehurst High School and the University of Mississippi, Dr. Arrington earned his M.D. from Tulane Medical School in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1954, the same year he won the hand of Bessie Burton Morgan of Oxford, Mississippi. Of his many honors and achievements in his life, he always knew that Bessie was his greatest gift. Dr. Arrington served as a flight surgeon in the United States Air Force until 1958, and the small but growing family moved from Alexandria, Louisiana, to Prentiss, Mississippi, in 1959. For the next 44 years he practiced medicine in Prentiss. Simultaneously, Dr. Arrington served with the 155th Infantry Battalion of the Mississippi National Guard, retiring in 1990 with the rank of Brigadier General.
He was known by all who met him as "Poochie," and later "Doc." He called himself a "country doctor" always, because it was humble. And in truth he birthed generations of children in Prentiss and the surrounding counties, taking care of entire families, old and new patients without respect to race at a time when doing so was neither profitable nor popular. He confessed an inability to ask anyone for pay, and in fact he and Bessie raised five children in substantial part on chicken, venison, fish, vegetables and all manner of bartered gifts from his patients all over South Mississippi. He possessed a quality that is increasingly precious for its scarcity: a bedside manner that gave his patients the confidence that together they could overcome every pain and defeat any ailment. He believed his patients, understood their fears and what would comfort them no matter the medical prognosis. To each he passed on his own knowledge of and belief in the gift of life as he knew it, and he never quit on anybody.
But he was more. Dr. Arrington was recognized far and wide as an unsurpassed diagnostician of any illness or condition, particularly those that eluded the specialists. He brought to each patient the most advanced treatment that current medical literature recommended, and he got people well who had been returned to the small hospital in Prentiss to die. He literally read everything, not just about medicine but history and literature, and he remembered all of it, down to the page number and paragraph of quotes worthy of his vast store of knowledge. It was impossible to determine whether he was a genius or had a photographic memory or just the benefit of vast experience that he remembered verbatim, but in the end none of that mattered to his family and friends who relied on him. He was the only person who knew the best day of the year to plant tomatoes, how to build a fish pond or locate quail in a field other hunters thought they had exhausted, the name of every plant and vine he carefully cultivated in his eclectic and prized backyard, the best seasonings and the correct cooking temperature for the game or fish his son Jo Drake brought home, what the weather was going to do and when, as well as the most obscure literary allusion not just in Light in August but in Much Ado About Nothing. He combined his great wealth of knowledge with endless curiosity and good common sense, and he earned the deference of those fortunate enough to have cast their lot with him. There was no one remotely like him, and he will be missed every day in the lives of those who knew and loved him.
His friend Don Kruger of Prentiss recently recalled the first time he saw Doc, tending a patient during maneuvers at Camp Shelby in the early sixties. He was the first man to the patient, dropped to his knees in the mud during a pounding rain, worked on the soldier with his sleeves rolled up and sweating without any consideration of what was happening around him, and stayed with the patient until he brought relief. Don said he did not know that he was watching in that moment the course of a man's life. Dr. Arrington was the first to meet any dire circumstance, had the most knowledge to deal with it, and was the last to leave. As an officer in the field, a country doctor, a father and a friend, he was the best we had to offer.
Survivors include: daughters, sons, sons-in-law, and daughters-in-law, grandchildren and great-grandchildren
His pallbearers will be his grandsons.
Memorials may be made to the Dr. M.L. Arrington Fitness and Rehab Center, 1110 Berry St., Prentiss, Mississippi 39474.
Published in the Clarion Ledger from 11/3/2008 - 11/4/2008
Dr. Arrington was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, on September 16, 1930, the son of Ethel Ramsey Arrington and Richard Olney Arrington, Sr. Mr. Arrington was a Justice on the Mississippi Supreme Court, where he served with distinction for some ten years prior to his death in 1963; Mrs. Arrington practiced trial law in Hazlehurst to age 84.
Dr. Arrington was predeceased by both parents; his brother, Richard Olney Arrington, Jr.; sister, Nancy Arrington Bryant; daughter, Ethel Ann Arrington Cruise of Jackson; and wife, Bessie.
A graduate of Hazlehurst High School and the University of Mississippi, Dr. Arrington earned his M.D. from Tulane Medical School in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1954, the same year he won the hand of Bessie Burton Morgan of Oxford, Mississippi. Of his many honors and achievements in his life, he always knew that Bessie was his greatest gift. Dr. Arrington served as a flight surgeon in the United States Air Force until 1958, and the small but growing family moved from Alexandria, Louisiana, to Prentiss, Mississippi, in 1959. For the next 44 years he practiced medicine in Prentiss. Simultaneously, Dr. Arrington served with the 155th Infantry Battalion of the Mississippi National Guard, retiring in 1990 with the rank of Brigadier General.
He was known by all who met him as "Poochie," and later "Doc." He called himself a "country doctor" always, because it was humble. And in truth he birthed generations of children in Prentiss and the surrounding counties, taking care of entire families, old and new patients without respect to race at a time when doing so was neither profitable nor popular. He confessed an inability to ask anyone for pay, and in fact he and Bessie raised five children in substantial part on chicken, venison, fish, vegetables and all manner of bartered gifts from his patients all over South Mississippi. He possessed a quality that is increasingly precious for its scarcity: a bedside manner that gave his patients the confidence that together they could overcome every pain and defeat any ailment. He believed his patients, understood their fears and what would comfort them no matter the medical prognosis. To each he passed on his own knowledge of and belief in the gift of life as he knew it, and he never quit on anybody.
But he was more. Dr. Arrington was recognized far and wide as an unsurpassed diagnostician of any illness or condition, particularly those that eluded the specialists. He brought to each patient the most advanced treatment that current medical literature recommended, and he got people well who had been returned to the small hospital in Prentiss to die. He literally read everything, not just about medicine but history and literature, and he remembered all of it, down to the page number and paragraph of quotes worthy of his vast store of knowledge. It was impossible to determine whether he was a genius or had a photographic memory or just the benefit of vast experience that he remembered verbatim, but in the end none of that mattered to his family and friends who relied on him. He was the only person who knew the best day of the year to plant tomatoes, how to build a fish pond or locate quail in a field other hunters thought they had exhausted, the name of every plant and vine he carefully cultivated in his eclectic and prized backyard, the best seasonings and the correct cooking temperature for the game or fish his son Jo Drake brought home, what the weather was going to do and when, as well as the most obscure literary allusion not just in Light in August but in Much Ado About Nothing. He combined his great wealth of knowledge with endless curiosity and good common sense, and he earned the deference of those fortunate enough to have cast their lot with him. There was no one remotely like him, and he will be missed every day in the lives of those who knew and loved him.
His friend Don Kruger of Prentiss recently recalled the first time he saw Doc, tending a patient during maneuvers at Camp Shelby in the early sixties. He was the first man to the patient, dropped to his knees in the mud during a pounding rain, worked on the soldier with his sleeves rolled up and sweating without any consideration of what was happening around him, and stayed with the patient until he brought relief. Don said he did not know that he was watching in that moment the course of a man's life. Dr. Arrington was the first to meet any dire circumstance, had the most knowledge to deal with it, and was the last to leave. As an officer in the field, a country doctor, a father and a friend, he was the best we had to offer.
Survivors include: daughters, sons, sons-in-law, and daughters-in-law, grandchildren and great-grandchildren
His pallbearers will be his grandsons.
Memorials may be made to the Dr. M.L. Arrington Fitness and Rehab Center, 1110 Berry St., Prentiss, Mississippi 39474.
Published in the Clarion Ledger from 11/3/2008 - 11/4/2008
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