Basil Arthur Dr. Pruitt, Jr.

Basil A. Pruitt, Jr., MD, passed away on Sunday, March 17, 2019 at the age of 88 after a long illness. Basil was born in Nyack, New York, to Basil A. Pruitt and Myrtle Florence ("Flo") Knowles Pruitt on August 21, 1930. After graduating from high school in Dallas, he continued his education at Harvard College (class of '52), majoring in geology. Instead of devoting his future to rocks, to the benefit of so many future patients he instead chose to go to medical school (Tufts, class of '57), then on to a surgical residency at Boston City Hospital. While a resident, he was drafted into the US Army and was sent to Brooke Army Medical Center and to what would later be renamed the Institute of Surgical Research (ISR). Having found his calling conducting research and caring for severely burned and injured patients, he completed his residency at Brooke in 1964 and then returned to the ISR. In 1967 she spent a year in Vietnam as the Chief of Surgery of the 12th Evacuation Hospital in Cu Chi, returning in 1968 to become Commander and Director of the ISR, where under his leadership over the next 27 years his unit's prolific work led to unprecedented improvements in trauma and burn care. After retiring from the Army in December 1995 after 35 years of active duty, he joined the faculty of the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio as Professor of Surgery. He served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Trauma for 17 years, was elected as the president of 12 surgical societies, published over 650 peer-reviewed papers, textbooks chapters and books, and was the recipient of numerous national and international awards for his work. During his long career, he served as a teacher and mentor to countless surgeons and other health care providers, many, if not all, with whom he developed lifelong friendships that brought him much joy. Among his favorite pastimes outside of work were tennis, downhill skiing, savoring good food and fine wine in the company of friends, traveling, spending holidays with family and collecting Japanese woodblock prints with his wife Molly. He was also s consummate storyteller and loved a good joke. Basil is survived by his wife of 64 years, Mary "Molly" Gibson Pruitt, and their three children, Jeffrey H. Pruitt of Dallas, Laura S. Pruitt of Washington, DC, and Scott K. Pruitt of Durham, NC; Scott's wife, Sandy Heard; four grandchildren, Sara O. Pruitt, Samuel H. Pruitt, Sydney R. Pruitt and Seth H. Pruitt, who affectionally referred to him as "GB", and his brother, John Pruitt and his wife, Marianne MacLeod Pruitt, of Dallas. Donations in memory of Basil A. Pruitt, Jr., may be made to the Texas Burn Survivor Society, https://texasburnsurvivors.org/donate A Memorial Service will be held on Monday, April 8, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. at Alamo Heights United Methodist Church, 825 East Basse Road, San Antonio. A chapel service will be held on Wednesday, August 10, 2022, at 11:00 A.M. at Ft. Myer Joint Base followed by Full Military Honors with escort at Arlignton National Cemetery, Washington, D.C.

A chapel service will be held on Wednesday, August 10, 2022, at 11:00 A.M. at Ft. Myer Joint Base followed by Full Military Honors with escort at Arlignton National Cemetery, Washington, D.C.