Oxford's Beloved Dr. Thurston Wilkes Passes Away

Thurston and Ginger Wilkes built their house next to our home at Oak Place in 1980. The first time I met him, he gave me hell for putting in my driveway, which would block some of his view.

 

The next time we met, he stormed into our unfinished home with a rifle asking me if I had a gun. It was early evening, and all we had in the living room was a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. Becky and I were sweeping up.

 

“Why,” I asked in response to his question inquiring if I had a gun.

 

“Because the damn woodpeckers are going to tear up our cedar shake roofs and we got to shoot the bastards,” Thurston said.

 

I was a bit frightened by the thought of me shooting a hole in my new roof, not to mention having a nut next door shooting a high powered rifle at woodpeckers.

 

Thurton was a nut. A funny, wonderful person, life of the party even it there was no party. In fact, many of us called him, Crazy Thurston, and he seemed to delight in the moniker. He had a great sense of humor, could be as blunt as the business end of a sledgehammer when being funny or talking about medical issues with a patient.

 

He was a fine physician. His patients loved him for the person he was.

 

There was a period of time when it seemed that Thurston traded cars every year. We keep ours many years, but when the new models came out, Thurston traded. Once he told me he got a price from a local dealer, and the dealer’s deal was too cheap so he bought somewhere else.

He and Ginger had a special relationship. They were the perfect couple. We enjoyed late afternoon drinks with them when we were all young. But I have to confess, I often wondered how she put up with him, just as others probably think with Becky and me. He was a wild man who loved life, loved his medical practice, his wife and two boys, and a good snort after work.

 

There will never be another Thurston. I miss him already.

I am certain he is tickled by the careful, loving and thoughtful wording of his obituary written by the oldest son, attorney Tad Wilkes, a brilliant writer who got his sense of humor from his dad.

 

God blessed us with your life, Thurston. I will keep an eye out for those woodpeckers.

 

 

The mercurial Thurston Euzema Wilkes II, M.D., 75, passed away peacefully at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Oxford at 2:13 a.m. on Friday, January 13th, 2017, under a bright full moon. A memorial service will be held Tuesday, January 17, 2017, at 2:00 p.m. in the Chapel of Waller Funeral Home with Rev. John Semmes officiating. Visitation will begin at 12:00 Noon prior to the service in West Hall at the funeral home. A private family interment will take place at a later date.

 

He was born in Cleveland, Miss., on October 19, 1941 to Lucille and Thurston Wilkes Sr., and raised in Picayune. He grew to love the outdoors and riding horses and camping at Red Bluff, and developed a fascination with cars. Thurston graduated from Picayune High School in 1959 and attended Ole Miss at Oxford, where he was a member of the SAE fraternity. He finished his undergraduate work at Millsaps College and received his M.S. and M.D. at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where he met his beautiful wife Ginger. He received his urology training at LSU Medical Center-Shreveport, where he served as chief resident. Thurston practiced urology in Oxford for over 35 years and was a compassionate physician, of whom his patients spoke highly. During his career, he served as chief of staff and chief of surgery at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Oxford. He was instrumental in starting the annual Christmas tradition at the hospital of doctors donating to the local pantry and toy drive for children in need. Nothing made him happier than giving gifts.

 

Thurston was a loving husband to Ginger, father to Tad and Carter, and grandfather to Carter and Alice, whose greatest gifts to his children were humor, a sense of wonder, a disdain for small talk, and the satisfaction of putting words together just right. He wore his heart on his sleeve and always cut to the chase. He loved to drive fast, laugh, and tell dirty jokes with impeccable timing. Thurston’s specialty in life was fun. His personality was a mixture of Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, and George Carlin—with a healthy dose of Steve McQueen. Thurston was hell on wheels and a master storyteller. He was the funniest man in the room and also the grouchiest. In the late 1960s and ‘70s, he was an enduro (off-road) dirtbike racer, along with younger brother Rodney, and later enjoyed traveling the country with friends on touring motorcycles. His sons will always cherish days spent riding with him in his Bronco through the woods. They never got stuck.

 

He will be remembered by just one name: Thurston. The world will never see, nor tolerate, another.

 

Thurston is predeceased by his parents, Lucille and Thurston Sr. and too many beloved dogs to count and survived, in every sense of the word, by wife Ann “Ginger” Broom Wilkes of Oxford, MS; sons, Thurston, III (“Tad”) and his wife Amy Wilkes and their daughters Carter and Alice of Oxford, MS and son Carter of Oxford, MS; brother, Rodney Wilkes of Picayune. MS, and nephew Marcus and niece Stacey Love; and dogs Rupert and Martha Stewart.

 

Memorial contributions in Dr. Wilkes’ memory may be made to the Pantry, P.O. Box 588, Oxford, MS 38655, the Oxford-Lafayette Humane Society, 413 McElroy Drive, Oxford, MS 38655 or the Oxford Medical Ministries, 205 Commerce Cove, Oxford, MS 38655.