JOSEPH M. HESTER, M.D.
July 3, 1919-Aug. 8, 2008
Dr. Joseph McMurray Hester, 89, passed away Friday at Wayne Memorial Hospital. He was born on July 3, 1919 to Dr. Joseph Robert Hester and Susie Finch Hester.
Dr. Hester is survived by his wife of 64 years, Carol Wells Hester; five sons, Joseph M. Hester Jr. and wife, Betsy, of Rocky Mount, Robert Wells Hester of Fairfield, Rupert Edward Hester of Fuquay-Varina, James Eugene Hester and wife, Laura, of Raleigh and William McMillan Hester and wife, Jill, of Williamsburg, Va.; two brothers, Robert Ferguson of Richmond, Va. and Dr. F. Eugene Hester and his wife, Katherine, of Springfield, Va.; eight grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
He was preceded in death by his brother William Henry Hester and his sisters, Virginia Eddins, Susan N. Wear, Joan M. Hester and Margueritte Price.
Upon graduation from Wendell High School, Dr. Hester attended the University of North Carolina and graduated in June of 1940. He was in the first graduating class of Bowman Gray School of Medicine in 1943 and was president of the student body. He served an internship in Rochester, N.Y. and served for two years in the U.S. Navy as a medical officer in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Following two years of training in internal medicine at the N.C. Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, he began the practice of internal medicine, first in Richmond, Va. and then in Wendell. For 16 years, he served as a staff physician at the North Carolina Tubercular Sanitarium in Wilson. In 1971, he began a solo practice in Goldsboro until he retired from private practice in 1985. He also was a staff physician at a primary care facility in Fayetteville and Jacksonville until his final retirement in 1996.
A private memorial service for the family will be held at the First Presbyterian Church in the Black Memorial Chapel, officiated by the Rev. Drew Clark and the Rev. Ryan Rasmussen, and he will be entombed in the Columbarium adjoining the church. Funeral arrangements are through Seymour Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the First Presbyterian Church, 1101 E. Ash St., Goldsboro, N.C. 27530.
(Pd)
Published in Obituaries on August 11, 2008 1:40 PM