Dr. Garland Norman Porterfield, Jr.

It is with deep sadness that the family of Dr. Garland Norman Porterfield, Jr. announces his passing, after a difficult seven-month battle with cancer, on Saturday, May 5, 2018, at the age of 73 years. Garland will be lovingly remembered by his wife of 35 years, Winnie; his daughter, Katelyn and her spouse Evan Hudson; his daughter, Jessie Porterfield; and his grandchild, Anna Beth Hudson. He is survived by his sisters, Linda Marshall and Diana Porterfield; and brother, Jimmy Porterfield. He was preceded in death by his mother and stepfather, Freda and Fred Raburn; his father, Garland Porterfield, Sr.; and his maternal grandmother, Susie, with whom he was very close. Garland was born in Childress, Texas, and completed high school in Henrietta, Texas. After serving a three-year tour in the Navy as a Corpsman, Garland attended and graduated from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. He was then admitted to the University of Texas Medical School at Galveston and earned his M.D. degree. He then completed a five-year Residency in Surgery at The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, became Board Certified, and hung his shingle in the private practice of surgery in Midland/Odessa, Texas. He returned to Oklahoma in 1981 to practice with colleagues in Oklahoma City and was on staff at several hospitals, including South Community Hospital. He met and married Winnie Wright during this time and was a very happy man with his new bride. Their marriage was later blessed with two beautiful daughters, Katelyn and Jessie, who were truly the light of his life. Always interested in excelling in surgery, he sought and obtained a Plastic Surgical Residency under Dr. Norman Levine at OU, and upon completion, became Board Certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. He then opened and owned a private plastic surgical practice in Oklahoma City for 27 years. Garland had many interests and hobbies that included skiing and golf, as well as bass fishing, hunting and trekking. He was affectionately known by his friends as P., Dr. Coach and T-Rex, and was an avid supporter of the OU football team. He especially enjoyed traveling with his tight-knit group of friends on hunting, fishing, and golfing trips. Whether deer hunting at the Three Cross Ranch, or on a golfing boondoggle in Pinehurst, North Carolina, he was renowned for his joke telling and cooking skills and for doctoring on his pals when necessary. Some of his greatest attributes were his generosity, his ornery sense of humor and his phenomenal memory of random facts, statistics and trivia. He will be greatly missed by the many friends, colleagues and patients whose lives he touched. A Funeral Service will be held on Thursday, May 10, 2018, at 3 p.m. at All Souls' Episcopal Church in Oklahoma City, where he was a member for over 33 years and served as an usher for over 20 years. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation for Cancer Research (https://omrf.org).