Obituary of Arthur F. Toole

Arthur Fulkerson Toole, M.D., age 103, died 22 February 2015 at the National Healthcare Skilled Nursing Facility, Anniston, AL. Services will be held 28 February 2015 at the First Presbyterian Church, Talladega, Alabama. Dr. Toole was preceded in death by his wife of 52 years, Barbara Reagan, by his parents, Arthur F. Toole, M.D. and Kate Chapman, his brother, Frank McAlpine Toole, D.M.D., and a nephew, Frank McAlpine Toole, Jr. He is survived by his children, Katherine Toole Kirby (Floyd) Jacksonville, Alabama, Arthur F. Toole, III, M.D. (Judy) Anniston, and Barckley W. Toole (Georgianna) Covington, Georgia; and, by grandchildren English Toole Benning (Clay), Barckley W. Toole, III, (Mary Elizabeth), Mary Reagan Toole Macon (George), Katherine Toole Garzon (George), Robert Bryant Smith, Matthew M. Smith (Mandy), and Kate W. Kirby; by his sister­in­law, Mary Alice Toole; and by eleven great­grandchildren and many nieces & nephews. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. Toole’ family moved to Asheville, North Carolina, when he was five years old. Following graduation from Asheville High School he attended the University of North Carolina and subsequently Harvard Medical School, graduating in the class of 1935. While in Boston Dr. Toole met Barbara, whom he married after completion of his internship at Presbyterian Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They spent a year in Philadelphia where he was Chief Resident of Presbyterian Hospital and, in 1938, he returned to his family’s hometown of Talladega, Alabama. Here he opened a general medical/surgical practice in which he was active until his retirement in 1986. During Dr. Toole’s years of medical practice he was a member of the staff of Citizens’ Hospital, Talladega, and served in various leadership positions, including Chief of Surgery and Chief of Staff on several occasions. He was an attending physician for Southern Railroad employees in the Talladega region and was an attending physician for the Alabama School for the Deaf and Blind and for Talladega College at intervals during his practice of medicine. When the United States entered World War II, the Defense Department placed Dr. Toole on civilian duty for the Talladega region because of his skills in obstetrics. Being the youngest physician in the area, he augmented the older physicians who had difficulty driving some of the rural roads for late night house calls. Additionally, he assisted with the medical care of workers at the Brecon Powder Plant in Talladega and the Anniston Army Depot. Dr. Toole was active in medicine beyond his medical practice. As a life member of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama, he served on the Medical Association’s Board of Trustees and was elected a Life Counselor of the Association. For his entire career he was a member, and held several offices, including president, of the Talladega County Medical Society. Dr. Toole was a Fellow (Emeritus) of the American College of Surgeons and a Life member of the American Medical Association. In Talladega, Dr. Toole was a dedicated member of the First Presbyterian Church, and served on the Board of Deacons. For many years he was a member of the Board of Directors for the Talladega Carnegie Public Library, and was elected to be its Chairman on multiple occasions. He was member of the Talladega Kiwanis Club and was on the Board of Directors of Talladega National Bank (now Regions Bank). In 1986 the City of Talladega honored Dr. Toole as its “Man of the Year”. Memorials may be made to the First Presbyterian Church Talladega, the Medical Association of the State of Alabama Foundation, the Talladega Public Library or a charity of your choice