Sept. 6, 1926 — July 22, 2014

CENTREVILLE — Graveside services for Dr. Richard Jennings “Dr. Dick” Fields Jr., 87, of Centreville, who died Tuesday, July 22, 2014, peacefully at his residence, will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at Oaklawn Cemetery.

Burial will follow in the cemetery under the direction of Newman Funeral Home.

Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. today and a Celebration of Life service will be at 11 a.m. Thursday both at Thomson Memorial Presbyterian Church with the Rev. Eric Greene officiating.

Mr. Field was born Sept. 6,1926, the son of Dr. and Mrs. Jennings Field.

Mr. Field shared his surgical knowledge and his faith around the world, but always with an unwavering love and devotion to his hometown “folks,” his church, his school, his family and tirelessly, his patients.

He was a 1943 graduate of Centreville High School, where he played football for his beloved Tigers.

He received his undergraduate degree in two years and completed his medical degree in 1949 from Tulane University. He received the Outstanding Senior Award from Nu Sigma Nu Medical fraternity, and served as its president.

After completing a residency in general surgery at Tulane/Charity Hospital under Dr. Alton Ochsner, he received advanced surgical training at the Lahey Clinic in Boston.

He served as an officer in the U.S. Navy, before returning to Centreville in 1956 to continue in the footsteps of his father, Dr. Jennings Field and his uncle, Dr. Sam Field.

Always excited to share his knowledge and love of surgery, he maintained clinical teaching appointments at Tulane University, the University of Mississippi and Louisiana State University. By establishing clinical teaching rotations, he introduced hundreds of medical students to rural medicine.

A passionate advocate for bringing leading-edge surgery to save more lives in rural communities, he became a prominent and influential voice in American surgery.

From his early days of driving injured patients to the emergency room in the family station wagon to serving in the highest ranks of the American College of Surgeons, he was always intensely focused on making life safer and better for his friends and neighbors in South Mississippi.

Naturally merging his faith with his work, he led multiple medical mission trips to Honduras, prayed regularly with his patients and colleagues and served as an Elder at the Thomson Memorial Presbyterian Church for more than 45 years.

Among many honors and distinctions that he received during his long career, the one that he cherished most was being team doctor of the Centreville Tigers for more than 50 years.

Others included The Richard Field Jr. Lectureship in Surgery, established in his honor at the University of Mississippi Medical School.

A dedicated leader for the American College of Surgeons, he served as Governor of Mississippi and chairman of the National Trauma Committee, where he received its Meritorious Award. He became the only Mississippi surgeon elected to its Board of Regents and was later selected second vice president.

He was a Fellow of the Royal College of surgeons and a member of the Southern Surgical Society, the Southeastern Surgical Congress and the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma.

He was chairman of the Mississippi Emergency Medical Services Council and a founding member of the Alton Ochsner Surgical Society.

He received the teacher of the year award multiple times from the Tulane Medical School, was president of the Tulane Medical Alumni Society and was honored for his contributions in medicine and rural surgery by the State of Mississippi and Governor Kirk Fordyce with “Dick Field Day.”

Always an advocate for his community, he was an active member of the Centreville Public School and Centreville Academy board of directors, president of the Centreville Chamber of Commerce, Founder of the Centreville Carousel of Arts Day, founder of the Field Memorial Distinguished Lectureship and charter member of the World War II Museum.

An avid nature lover, he was a member of the North American Bluebird Society. He established a blue bird trail at Pine Hills Country Club and always enjoyed sitting on his front porch watching bluebirds.

Survivors include his soulmate of 64 years, “Miss Betty;” two sons, Dr. Richard J. Field III and wife, Melissa, of Centreville, and Dr. Edward D. Field and wife, Julie, of Oxford; one daughter, Betsy Field MacKay and husband, Angus, of Dallas; five grandchildren, Richard Jennings Field IV, Burton Foret Field, William Dunbar Stewart MacKay, Elizabeth Anne Field and Catherine Newell Field; one brother, Dr. Davis Field of Tupelo; one sister, Babe Field Carr of Oxford; and a number of nephews, nieces and cousins.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Field Memorial Community Hospital, Centreville Academy, Thomson Memorial Presbyterian Church or the World War II Museum.