James W. Branch Jr.

Dr. James W. Branch, Jr., 79, of Baytown was born June 20, 1936, in New Orleans, La. and passed away Sunday, October 25, 2015, in a local hospital. He grew up in Hope, Arkansas and graduated from Hope High School in 1954. He graduated from the University of Arkansas and went on to receive his Doctor of Medicine degree from Kansas City University in 1964. He retired to Baytown after practicing private family medicine and surgery in Hope, Ark. and East Texas. He was a strong advocate for Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine to receive full practice rights in the State of Arkansas. The law was passed in 1971 and he was honored with receiving the first license in the state. He was proud to have lived to see two Schools of Osteopathic Medicine being built in Arkansas. He was preceded in death by his parents, Dr. James and Nell Branch and brother, Robert Branch. He is survived by his wife, Bettye Jo Branch of Baytown; sons and daughters-in-law, James William III and Jerlynn Branch of The Philippines and Charles Thomas and Erica Branch of Baytown; daughters and sons-in-law, Rosemary and Rick Olsen of Baytown and Jennifer and G. L. Warren of Maize, Kan.; brother and sister-in-law, Hal and Sonya Branch of Hope, Ark.; sister and brother-in-law, Marynell Branch and Bill Brusenhan of Little Rock, Ark.; and eight grandchildren. Services will be held Thursday, October 29, 2015 at 10 a.m. in the Herndon-Pharr Funeral Home Chapel with Rick Olsen officiating. Interment will follow in Memory Gardens Cemetery under the direction of Herndon-Pharr Funeral Home.