Dr. Joseph Earle Furman

Dr. Joseph Earle Furman, 98, died peacefully on Feb 13, 2021 and was reunited with his wife of 74 years, Carolyn Hendricks Furman, who died September 2020. Earle spent almost his entire life in Greenville and was a beloved pediatrician at The Children’s Clinic, which he founded in 1955.

Earle was born in Greenville, SC in 1922 to Alester Garden Furman, Jr. and Janie Earle Furman. The family lived on Pettigru Street in downtown Greenville. He attended Woodberry Forest and Severn high schools before graduating from the latter. Earle earned his BS from Furman University and MD from the Medical College of South Carolina. Earle was also an officer in the Navy and served as a Navy physician in Charleston, Philadelphia and Jacksonville during World War II. Earle married Carolyn Hendricks, a Furman classmate, in 1946. The couple lived in Philadelphia, New York City and Baltimore from 1946 to 1952 while Earle completed his training in Pediatrics.

After starting as a solo practitioner, in Greenville, and during his first year of practice, he offered to take calls for the established local pediatricians on nights, weekends and holidays to gain patients. He also visited obstetricians to offer newborn care. In the beginning, office visits were $4, house calls $5 and newborn care $10. His first year was slow, and in 1952 he paid $2.75 in Federal Income Tax. Practice volume steadily increased and the The Children’s Clinic was born in 1955. Dr. Furman not only saw patients in the office and hospital, but also made many house calls, often with one of his own children in tow. His youngest daughter, Carol, recalls being asked to lay across the legs of a boy during an injection of anesthesia prior to sutures. He even put a spotlight on his car to see house numbers at night. One of the practices The Children’s Clinic inherited was a clinic free for mill workers at Judson Mill Village. Babies were checked assembly line-style; weighed, measured, examined and immunized. Throughout his career, Dr. Furman remained sincerely interested in children’s welfare and health, and was known for his intuitive diagnostic ability and the power to instinctively calm even the most agitated child.

Earle remained in Greenville the rest of his life. He was on the staff of Greenville General Hospital, St. Francis Hospital and the Shriner’s Hospital. In 1965, he was President of the Pediatric Medical Staff for the South Carolina State Medical Association. Earle also volunteered at the Student Infirmary at Furman University, was a member of the Rotary Club and a member of the First Baptist Church. He retired from practice in 1985.

In addition to his profession, “Doc” was very devoted to his children and family. He also had many friends, an active social life after retirement and loved to travel, golf, garden and eat. He loved Carolyn’s cooking and somehow remained trim throughout his life despite his voracious appetite and taste for ice cream. Earle and Carolyn also spent a lot of time at their Litchfield Beach condo in Pawleys Island. They even evacuated together with friends to an inland plantation house in Georgetown during Hurricane Hugo in 1989, unaware of its strength and the destruction all around them. Earle was also known for his kindness, dry sense of humor and calm, easy-going demeanor.

Earle is survived by his four children, who were raised in Greenville by he and Carolyn; Earle Furman, Jr, Richard Furman (Nancy Yeargin Furman), Judy Collins (Mike Collins) and Carol Furman; nine grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. He is predeceased by his parents, his wife, Carolyn, daughter-in-law, Linda Quinn Furman; grandson, Sean Collins, his brother Alester G. Furman III.

Family graveside services will be Wednesday in Springwood Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Furman University, The Greenville Free Medical Clinic or The Lindy Fund at the GCCA.

Arrangements by Mackey Funerals and Cremations at Century Dr.