Dr. William L. Bridges, Jr., 83, of Tifton, died Friday, May 25, 2007, at Tift Regional Medical Center. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 27, 2007, in the Memorial Chapel of Tifton’s First Baptist Church. Dr. W. Ches Smith, III will officiate with burial to follow at Oak Ridge Cemetery. Will Arthur, Ned Arthur, Taylor Scott, David O’Brien, Bill Lankford, Steve Stephens and Bob Stephens will serve as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be Buddy Kulbersh, Ray Jensen, Dr. Curtis Branch, Buddy Bowen, Billy Lankford, Bob Reinhardt, James Bowen, Jake Herring, Joe Riddle, Dr. Joe Turner, Charles Massey, Frank Koran, George Lindstedt, Dr. Steve Ridgon, Dr. Greg Anderson, Dr. Bill Guest, George Branch and members of the Frank Raley Sunday School Class of Tifton’s First Baptist Church.
The family will receive friends on Saturday, May 26, 2007, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the Chapel of Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals.
Dr. Bridges was born on December 29, 1923 in Sumner and was the son of William L. Bridges, Sr. and Sarah Jane Pittman Bridges, both deceased. He was also preceded in death by his first wife, Betty Ann Finston Bridges. He was a retired pediatrician and a member of Tifton’s First Baptist Church, where he was also a member of the Frank Raley Sunday School Class. He was a member of the Southern Perinatal Society, the Tifton Rotary Club and President of his graduating class from the Medical College of Georgia.
Dr. Bridges graduated from high school in 1940 and entered the University of Georgia at 16 years of age and was graduated in three years. In 1943, he went to the Medical College of Georgia Medical School where, after one quarter, the Army took control of the Medical School. He was graduated from Medical School in 1946 and served his civilian internship at Roper Hospital in Charleston, South Carolina for 15 months. Dr. Bridges returned to the Army and during two years, served at Oliver General Hospital in Augusta, Georgia, Fort Bragg, North Carolina and Fort McPherson, Georgia, and was honorably discharged as a captain. He stayed in Atlanta for a rotating residency at Crawford Long and Grady Memorial Hospitals for one year. His uncle, Dr. Carl S. Pittman, Sr., informed him that a pediatrician was needed in Tifton. He then started his Pediatric residency at Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta and went to Charity Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1951 and 1952. He practiced pediatrics in Tifton from 1952 through 1978.
Dr. Bridges is survived by his wife, Sandra Haygood Bridges of Tifton; four daughters, Mimi Claire Bridges Arthur and husband, Bill, of Nashville, Tennessee, Claire Cox and husband, Pat, of Woodstock, Karen Scott of Atlanta, and Robin Eason of Tybee Island; one brother, Julian Bridges of Moultrie; one sister, Carolyn Stephens and husband, Elmer, of Lake Wales, Florida; and six grandchildren, Will Arthur, Ned Arthur, Molly Arthur, Taylor Scott, Caleigh Shorts and Laura Cox.