1923-2023
Dr. Arthur W. Stoolfire, age 99, died on Tuesday morning, March 21, with his wife Bobbye at his side, as she has been for the past 33 years. Dr. Stoolfire, the son of Waldo and Bernice Morrow Stoolfire, was born on August 10, 1923, in Ohio County, West Virginia, in the home of his grandparents.
A service of Witness to the Resurrection celebrating the life of Dr. Stoolfire will be held on Friday, March 24, at 11:00 a.m. at Covenant Presbyterian Church. Private burial services will be conducted at West Hill Cemetery prior to the church service. Serving as pallbearers are Alex Fairchild, Reese Fairchild, Mark Stoolfire, Wes Wynne, Thomas Wynne, and Jay Cain. Friends and family are invited to a reception at the church following the services.
Dr. Stoolfire attended public schools in West Alexander, Pennsylvania and received his A.B. and B.S. degrees from West Virginia University. He attended Harvard Medical School and received his M.D. from the Medical College of Virginia in 1946. He received graduate training in ENT from Harvard Medical School, Cleveland Clinic and New Orleans ENT Hospital.
After completing six years military service in the U.S. Navy, Dr. Stoolfire joined the staff of Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio. While there, he married Nancy Reese on June 24, 1951. After being advised to move to a warmer climate due to his being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, Art and Nancy moved to New Orleans, and he joined the staff of New Orleans ENT Hospital.
In 1952, he was recruited by several doctors at the Medical Arts Clinic in Sherman. He and Nancy moved to Sherman where he practiced and served Sherman and the surrounding area for over 47 years. Upon his retirement, he was honored by Mayor Tom Osburn by proclamation of Dr. Arthur Stoolfire as “Caring Physician” for his dedication to his patients and the city of Sherman on May 14, 1999.
Art was a longtime member of Covenant Presbyterian Church (previously First Presbyterian Church) where he served as a ruling elder, taught Sunday School, and was a member of the Men’s Breakfast Club. Art enjoyed membership in the Philosophy Club, a group he considered to be “the thinkers of Sherman.”
Having both lost spouses and finding many common interests, Art and Bobbye Wynne married on September 22, 1990. They enjoyed traveling the world for 25 years followed by many family trips in more recent years. Bobbye and Art were faithful participants in the Wilson N. Jones early morning exercise group and the local chapter of the American Wine Society dinners.
Art was a longtime member of Sherman Country Club where he entertained his “running buddies” Michael and Matthew Wynne (better known as the “M&M’s”) and Kai Cain. He let them drive his golf cart and to ride their bicycles at the club. His desk was a treasure trove of interesting items that only these boys were allowed to explore. He traveled to Dallas to welcome the newest addition to the family, Crewe Cain, born on September 29, 2022.
He was an avid golfer and was proud of his two “hole in ones” at Woodlawn Country Club. His love of reading and learning served him well in his later years when physical activity was impossible.
Survivors of Art’s first family are children: Robert Stoolfire (Cathy), Elizabeth Stoolfire Lovelace, John Stoolfire, and Carolyn Stoolfire Fairchild (Inman); grandchildren: Alex Fairchild (Ashlea), Lawton Delchamps (Dave), Reese Fairchild, Carolyn Parfait (Haven), Rosalie Lovelace Buck (Adam), Jessica
Stoolfire, and Mark Stoolfire; great-grandchildren: Catherine Gearinger, Carlianne Gearinger, Haven Parfait II, Knallie Fairchild, Jack Fairchild, Curtis Delchamps, Samuel Delchamps, Maddox Stoolfire, and Perri Stoolfire.
Survivors of Art’s second family that he loved as his own are children: T. Wilson Wynne (Sylvia), Michael C. Wynne (Sherry), Mitchell Wynne, and William Bradley; grandchildren: Wes Wynne (Lindsey), Thomas Wynne, Rachel Wynne Cain (Jay), and Amy LaMondue (Ernest); great- grandchildren: Michael and Matthew Wynne and Kai and Crewe Cain.
The family is thankful for Art’s faithful caregivers Dianna McFarland, Johnnie Blanton, Delda Morrison, and Nora Montgomery.
Memorials to Home Hospice of Grayson County are suggested. The register book can be signed online at waldofuneralhome.com.
