Gary Frederick Purdue M.D. went to be with the Lord October 3rd, 2010 at the age of 65. He was preceded in death by his parents Frederick N. Purdue & Isabel Wrigley Purdue. In 1963 he graduated the Elmira Free Academy. Gary served our country from 1966-1969 with the Navy (SeaBees) which included two tours in Vietnam. He graduated with a degree in Ceramics Engineering from Alfred University after his return.  He went on to achieve his Doctorate of Medicine at Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia & his residency at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh. It was there that he met his wife Laurel.  They married in 1978 and relocated to Dallas for his Fellowship in Burn Surgery at Parkland Memorial Hospital in 1981 and accepted a position as Associate Professor of Burn Surgery at UT Southwestern. He is survived by his wife, Laurel, and his children Ian (Nicole), Heather, Keith (Tiffany), & Kyle (Anna) and his grandchild Luke. His siblings Keith W. Purdue, Christine Stephens (David), Constance Breed (Michael) & Frederick (Carol) all of Elmira NY. Memorial Contributions may be directed to University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center - Designated Fund for Burn Care in Memory of Dr. Gary F. Purdue, P.O. Box 910888, Dallas, TX 75391

By DAVID FLICK

Staff Writer

dflick@dallasnews.com

Published: 04 October 2010 09:38 AM

Updated: 14 March 2011 12:41 PM

Dr. Gary F. Purdue was an administrator at UT Southwestern Medical Center and Parkland Memorial Hospital, who nonetheless worked in the trenches of his profession.

"He was a working physician," said Dr. John Hunt, Dr. Purdue's co-director at the Parkland burn unit. "As they say in the profession, he wore three hats - research, teaching and administration. ... There's a lot of sadness around Parkland tonight."

Dr. Purdue, 65, died early Sunday morning while driving his motorcycle to work.

Police said he was riding north in the 10400 block of Webb Chapel Road at 7:20 a.m. when the driver of an SUV ran a stop sign, hit him and knocked him through a backyard fence. He was pronounced dead at Parkland Memorial Hospital.

Police arrested the SUV's driver, Justin Heaton, and charged him with intoxication manslaughter. A Parkland spokesman said Dr. Purdue had been wearing a helmet.

At his death, Dr. Purdue was chief of the burn section in the department of surgery at UT Southwestern and had been co-director of the Parkland burn unit for 22 years. Parkland has one of the largest burn units in the nation, treating almost 1,000 burn victims annually.

He was also a past president of the American Burn Association.

A native of Elmira, N.Y., Dr. Purdue received his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in Pennsylvania in 1976 and completed his general surgery residency at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh in 1981.

Just before Dr. Purdue entered medical school, his father was electrocuted in a boating accident, which colleagues said reinforced Dr. Purdue's desire to become a doctor. While attending medical school, he worked as a paramedic for a volunteer fire department.

"Dr. Purdue was an outstanding clinician, educator and role model," Dr. Bruce Meyer, executive vice president for health systems affairs at UT Southwestern, said in a prepared statement released Sunday night by UT Southwestern.

"This is a truly tragic, senseless loss for not only his family and the UT Southwestern and Parkland communities, but also for the citizens of North Texas and all the thousands of patients whose lives he touched."

Although at the traditional retirement age, Dr. Purdue would only vaguely talk of retiring in a few years, according to Dr. Hunt. He and his wife helped the Gladney Center for Adoption over the years by caring for 39 infants awaiting adoption.

Dr. Hunt said that Dr. Purdue enjoyed riding his motorcycle to work but was very safety-conscious.

"He was very conservative about it," Dr. Hunt said. "He was careful about wet streets. He'd only ride it in nice weather."

He is survived by his wife, Laurel; daughter, Heather of Carrollton; sons, Ian and Kyle of Carrollton, and Keith of Frisco; and one grandson.