Remembering John Robert Oglesbee

Age 80, Tahlequah, Okla.
Passed away on April 26, 2020

He passed away aged 80 on April 26, 2020, in Tahlequah after a long and valiant fight against the novel coronavirus.

Dr. Oglesbee graduated from the Oklahoma University School of Medicine in 1969, in the top 10 of his class, to begin a career of over 51 years practicing medicine. Despite lucrative offers in cardiology and pathology, he had a vision to provide sophisticated medical care to rural areas.

He built a clinic in Allen that offered lab, X-ray, minor surgery, emergency services and general family practice. He was available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and would treat the sick or injured at his clinic, at the hospital, in his own home or in a farmer's pasture. He made house calls, was a lifeline to the people of rural Oklahoma and often gave cut-rate or free services to the poor.

After 33 years, he closed his practice in Allen and went on to practice in Miami, Tahlequah, Broken Bow and lastly at Muskogee, where he was still seeing "sick folk" when he contracted his illness.

Among the many awards and accolades he received during his long career, he had been chosen Oklahoma Physician of the Year, sat on the State Medical Board and was a state medical examiner. He entered seven hours of testimony on health care reform before the U.S. Senate in the 1990s.

Dr. Oglesbee was an avid outdoorsman, played the guitar and dulcimer, and was a prolific writer of poems, songs and stories. He was a voracious reader of books but loved none more than the word of God.

He was a longtime member of Missionary Baptist churches at Non, Allen, Carthage, Broken Bow and lastly the Florence Street Baptist Church of Broken Arrow. He served as a deacon for many years before accepting a call to preach in 2002.

Dr. Oglesbee was an exceptional and extraordinary man, respected in his profession and beloved by all who knew him. He said of medicine:"A physician can win many battles, but the war is lost in the end."

Truly, he spent his life fighting against disease and infirmity in his fellow man, but in the end, his old enemy took him. He shall be sorely missed, and his like shall not be seen again.

He was preceded in death by his parents; a brother, Frank William Oglesbee; a son, Patrick Robin Oglesbee; and his first wife of 41 years, Patsy Ruth (Tollett) Oglesbee.

Dr. Oglesbee is survived by his wife, Patricia Ann (Mason) Oglesbee; son, Jonathan Robert Oglesbee and wife, Cheri, of Tahlequah; daughter, Tricia Gail Hanks and husband, Darryl, of Spavinaw; daughter, Mary Crystal Wood and husband, Yancy, of Durango, Colorado; stepdaughter, Katarina Baugh and husband, Darren, of Carthage, Missouri; brother, Thomas Andrew Oglesbee and wife, Dr. Lana Oglesbee, of Tulsa; 17 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and countless friends.

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