Dr. George Lovejoy

GEORGE SHANNON LOVEJOY was born on March 14, 1917 in Memphis. He was preceded in death by his parents, Dr. and Mrs. William Harrison Lovejoy. His father graduated from University of Louisville Medical School and met his future wife while making a house call. He was also preceded in death by five brothers and sisters. He is survived by his wife of 70 years, Dorothy Sue Lovejoy and three children, Sue Ellen Lovejoy, Ann and her husband, Greg O’Connor and Joe and his wife, Lenee Lovejoy. He is also survived by five grandchildren, Shannon Elizabeth Campion and Roger Honz, Egan Campion, Lou Browning and his wife, Elizabeth, Sannon Harig-Blaine and her husband, Elisha, and Pryor Browning and his wife, Jesie. He is also survived by seven great-grandchildren, and by his sister, Joy McGill. George attended A B Hill grammer school and South Side High School. He attended West Tennessee State Teachers College, where he majored in the sciences. He was briefly employed in the Memphis Street Railway. He graduated from University of Tennessee Medical School in 1943. He married the love of his life, Dorothy Sue Smith in 1943 and spent three months assisting Dr. Howard Anderson in the coal mining town of Welch, West Virginia, while waiting for his internship in Atlanta, Georgia in the Grady Hospital. After he completed his internship, he spent 2½ years as First Lieutenant in the Army. During his service at Dibble General Hospital in San Francisco, he received his Captaincy. In returning to Memphis after this war, he practiced pediatrics with Dr. Tom Mitchell. He opened his own office on Highland Avenue in the 1940’s. In the 1960’s, he was asked to take the position of Medical Director of the Memphis and Shelby County Health Department. He developed the nurse practitioner program in Shelby County. He served in this position for 10 years at which time he accepted the position of Medical Director of Arlington Developmental Hospital. After leaving Arlington, he joined East Memphis Children’s Clinic as a part-time physician. He was devoted to the practice of Pediatrics. He often said “I retired three times!” He was a man of many talents. He volunteered at John Gaston, was Chief of Staff at LeBonheur Hospital, President of the Memphis Pediatric Society, and the President of the Tennessee Pediatric Society. He was a member of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, where he was very active serving on the finance committee as chairman of the Board of Stewards. He taught an adult Sunday School class for many years and enjoyed participating in the landscaping of the premises. His hobbies included reading and discussing any and all Civil War material and gardening. He enjoyed taking care of his 120 rose bushes and raised prize-winning specimen roses. He loved working in his vegetable garden at Shelby Farms for more than 20 years. For the past 7 years, he and his wife have enjoyed living at Kirby Pines Retirement Community. The family will receive friends on Wednesday, October 23 from 5-7 p.m. at Memphis Funeral Home on Poplar Ave. A Funeral service will be held at 11 a.m., Thursday, October 24 at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery. Online condolences may be made at memphisfuneralhome.net Memphis Funeral Home And Memorial Gardens 5599 Poplar Ave. (901)725-0100