Dr. Joe Puckett

Dr. Billy Joe Puckett, 81, of Siloam Springs, Arkansas, died June 17, 2009, at Siloam Springs Memorial Hospital, Siloam Springs, Arkansas. Born November 21, 1927 in Ashdown, Arkansas, he was the son of Willie Puckett and Lala Thrash Puckett. Dr. Puckett graduated from Ashdown High School in 1945. On June 19, 1947, he married Bettye Jo Waddell in Ashdown, Arkansas. He attended Henderson University in Arkadelphia and graduated in 1949 with a Bachelors Degree in pre-medicine. He received his Doctorate in Medicine in 1953 from the University of Arkansas Medical School in Little Rock. He served in the U.S. Air Force for three years after he received his doctorate. In 1956 he began his practice in Siloam Springs. He was one of three physicians at the original Siloam Springs Medical Center. He retired in July 2001 after 45 years as a family physician. Dr. Puckett was a member of the Siloam Springs Rotary Club for 40 years where he won the Rotary’s Paul Harris Fellow Award for leadership and community service; he served as President of the Siloam Springs School Board for 10 of his 11 years on the Board. He received an honorary award at the American Academy of Family Practice, and was a member of the Arkansas Medical Society of Benton County. He was inducted into the Arkansas Country Doctors’ Hall of Fame in 2008. He was also a member of the First Baptist Church, Siloam Springs, Arkansas. He was preceded in death by his parents and two sisters, Melba Jones and Patsy McClendon all of Ashdown. Survivors include his wife Bettye of the home; one son, Todd Puckett of Chicago, Illinois; two daughters, Deborah Bailey and husband Rick of Bartlesville, Ok and Melanie Warder and husband Rodney, of Siloam Springs, Arkansas; and three grandchildren, Britney Fox and husband Ryan, Brooke Fowler and husband Chris, and Cole Bailey. Funeral services will be 10:00 a.m., Saturday, June 20, 2009, at the First Baptist Church, Siloam Springs, Arkansas, with Dr. John Terry and Dr. Jerry Hopkins officiating. Burial will be private. The family will receive visitors from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., Friday, June 19, 2009, at Wasson Funeral Home, Siloam Springs, Arkansas. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the First Baptist Church Building Fund, P.O. Box 356, Siloam Springs, Arkansas.

Tributes

Dr. Joe Puckett