Dr. Grover Duckett Poole

Dr. Grover Duckett Poole died peacefully surrounded by his family and friends on April 27, 2020.  Grover was born July 28, 1922 in Raleigh, North Carolina to Elizabeth Duckett and Grover Cleveland Poole. He was their only child. At age 5, he started playing golf with his mother because she had no sitter! By 14, he won the Carolinas Junior Championship, the North Carolina High School Championship, the South Atlantic High School Championship and the Southern High School Championship all before heading to Duke University with a golf scholarship. His mother kept scrapbooks of all of his tournaments…4 big books! He finished his undergraduate studies from Duke University in three years, where he won the Southern Amateur Collegiate championship as a junior in 1942. After his graduation from Duke medical school he served in the Navy as a doctor from 1945-1948. He always said he did not see a boat until his last day of active duty. He won many matches, met many professional golfers poplar during that time and felt very fortunate to have all of those experiences. He won 6 Jonesboro Country Club championships. He was winner of the US Senior Amateur in Florida, Past Representative to the Southern Golf Association, and he was a 1996 Inductee into the Arkansas Golf Hall of Fame.

He was a 40 year member of Catfish Club.

He met his wife, Mary Belle Overstreet, at Duke and they were married in 1944. They moved to Jonesboro in 1949 to go into practice with his father-in-law, Dr. Walter Overstreet. He was a Family Practice doctor for 42 years before retiring in 1991. He served as Chief of Staff at St. Bernard’s 2 times. Once was in 1968 when Jonesboro had a serious tornado. He was asked to testified to Congress about what the medical community learned during the crisis. He shared how to triage wounds and procedures were shared across the county. He probably delivered about 2500 babies during his time. And he loved “house calls” often taking his daughter, Caroline, along so they could have time to visit. He was a deeply religious man who was member of First United Methodist Church for 71 years.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Mary Belle Poole and his second wife, Jean Lawson Poole. He is survived by a daughter Caroline Cameron and her husband, Mike, brothers -in- law Randy Lawson and Lynn Lawson. Also surviving him is his sister-in-law Martha Overstreet and her 3 daughters and their families. He had 4 grandchildren, Marvin Day (Ashley), Leslie Porter (Jay), Jennifer Kellett (Brian) , Ben Cameron(Lauren), 9 great grandchildren, Alex, Zac, Mays, Jack, Abby, Catherine, Elizabeth, Sophia and Will and many dear friends, especially Marystel Appleton. We will be eternally grateful for the care Susie Harris and Ginger Thetford gave to “Doc”.

Burial will be private and due to the Coronavirus; a celebration of his life will be held at a later date. The service will be streamed live at 10:00 am on Wednesday, April 29, 2020 on Emerson Funeral Home’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Emerson-Funeral-Home-138806486167826/

Memorials can be sent to First United Methodist Church, 801 S Main, Jonesboro, AR 72401; Helping Neighbors Food Pantry, 900 W. Huntington, Jonesboro, AR 72401; Northeast Arkansas Cancer Society, % Jennifer Clay, P.O. Box 1111, Pocahontas, AR 72455.