Katie Beth Youngblood

Katie was born on March 13, 1934, to Russell McRae and Theo Dees Hunter in Borger, Texas. She had two older sisters, Marynell and Theo. The family moved frequently during her childhood as her father worked for Conoco. She lived in Ft. Worth, Texas and Ponca City, Oklahoma before the family settled in Houston, Texas for her senior year of high school. She attributed her facility at making friends to these frequent moves. When she was 13 she and her friend, David Vandervoort, saved the lives of Jack and Mary Leadbetter after the boat they were in capsized. For this bravery, she received the Carnegie Medal and the Girl Scout Medal of Valor. She and David remained life long friends.

She graduated from Lamar High School in 1952. She attended Rice University for two years. She met her husband of 68 years, James Luther Youngblood, while a student there. They were married July 25, 1954, at South Main Baptist Church in Houston.

They lived in Virginia and Florida while he was in the Navy and she learned to be a lab tech. They started their family with the birth of their first child in 1956. After Jim finished his service, they returned to Rice where he pursued a PhD and she finished her BS in Biology, graduating with the class of 1958. They had three more children in the span of five years.

The family moved to Wilmington, Delaware in 1962 where Jim worked for Dupont. Katie had always wanted to become a doctor and after reading the first chapter of Betty Friedan’s book, Feminine Mystique, she decided to apply to medical school in 1965. She attended Women’s Medical School in Philadelphia for one year on a full scholarship.

The family relocated to Clear Lake City, Texas in 1966 where Jim began working for NASA. Katie transferred to the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and graduated in 1969. She practiced family medicine in Clear Lake City for decades. After she left private practice she joined the faculty of UTMB and directed community clinics in Galveston and Conroe where she trained residents in family medicine. After she retired, she and her husband moved to Conroe and then to Rogers, Arkansas to be close to her son.

Katie was a superb diagnostician with a sharp memory. She cared deeply for the health of her community on many levels. She served on the Clear Creek ISD School Board, chaperoned two high school choir tours of Europe with the Clear Lake HS Symphonic Chorale, and served on committees of the Texas Association of Family Practice. She was extremely generous and donated to both Rice and UTMB where she endowed a scholarship fund for female medical students who have children. She made friends quickly wherever she lived and was quick with an earthy joke or a funny song. All those whose lives she touched will miss her.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her sister, Marynell Hunter Walker; and her son-in-law, Rob Ashmore. She is survived by her husband (currently in memory care); her children: Linda Kay Youngblood Jones (Jim), Thomas Hunter Youngblood (Cindy), Carey Elizabeth Youngblood, and Susan Bernice Youngblood Ashmore; her sister, Theo Hunter Vickers Huber, 8 grandchildren and their spouses; and 10 great grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held on March 12 at 11 am at First Presbyterian Church, Rogers, Arkansas. Her ashes will be interred at the National Cemetery in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Donations may be sent in her memory to the First Presbyterian Church, 1901 South 26th St., Rogers, AR, 72758. For anyone who’d like to give online to the Katie H. Youngblood, MD Scholarship, please visit https://development.utmb.edu/give. At that point they would choose Other in the Designation drop down box and specify “M&T – Katie H. Youngblood, MD Scholarship” in Other drop down box. Notes of sympathy can be sent to her son, Dr. Tom Youngblood at 1232 Countrywood Cr., Rogers, AR 72756

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.RollinsFuneral.com for the Youngblood family.