J.D. was born in Pampa, Texas, January 11, 1935 to Charles Ernest Harper, Sr. and Pauline (Blankenship) Harper. They moved throughout West Texas before settling in Ranger, Texas when J.D. was a young boy. That’s where he met and married his high school sweetheart Imogene Loper, September 10, 1955. He served in the Army from 1954-1956, stationed in Anniston, Alabama. He was a member of Hill City Masonic Lodge and was in the Ben Hur Shrine.
He graduated from the UT College of Pharmacy in January 1960. Four years later, he bought Crestview Pharmacy in North Central Austin. The pharmacy was his passion. He eagerly cared for every customer as if they were his own family. Each Saturday morning in the back of the pharmacy, a dozen longtime local Austinites would gather to tell tall tales and ponder world problems over coffee. The pharmacy continues to be a mainstay of the Crestview neighborhood. J.D.’s two sons now run the store.
He was preceded in death by his sister, Joy Harper Gilbert, and brother, Charles Ernest Harper, Jr.
He is survived by his wife and best friend of 56 years, Imogene; sons, Jerry and his wife, Leslie, David and his wife, Amy; and grandchildren, Jay, Heather, Jacob, Duke and Dane, all of Austin.
Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from six o’clock until eight o’clock in the evening, on Wednesday, the 16th of May 2012, at Cook-Walden Funeral Home, 6100 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin, Texas. Light
refreshments will be provided by the family through Cook-Walden Funeral Home Catering Services.
Funeral services will be conducted at two o’clock in the afternoon on Thursday, the 17th of May 2012, in the Colonial Chapel of Cook-Walden Funeral Home, 6100 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin, Texas. Interment will follow in Austin Memorial Park, Austin, Texas.
In lieu of flowers and customary remembrances, the family suggests memorials be sent to the Shriner’s Hospitals for Children, 815 Market Street, Galveston, Texas 77550.
Condolences may be sent to www.cookwaldenfuneralhome.com.
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