Obituary of Curtis Marion Garner, MD

December 30, 1934 - September 15, 2025

Curtis Marion Garner, MD went to be with his Lord and Savior on September 15, 2025.

Visitation is set for 1 p.m. Saturday, September 20th at First Baptist Church, Woodville, Texas. A memorial service will follow at 2 p.m. Jay Abernathy and Mark Tolar will officiate. The burial will be a private service at Magnolia Cemetery, Woodville.

Dr. Garner was born December 30, 1934 in Livingston, Texas. His Garner ancestors were Republic of Texas settlers in 1835 in what is now Polk County. He considered himself an East Texan through and through and believed he lived in the best place on earth.

He graduated in Livingston as co-valedictorian with Anne Mahan, who would later become his wife. He attended Baylor University and then went on to graduate from The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. There he was chosen as a member of Sigma Xi and Alpha Omega Alpha, honorary societies for top medical school graduates. He and his wife, Anne, then moved to Wheeling, West Virginia where he completed his internship before moving to Woodville in 1960.

Dr. Garner served as a physician in Woodville for over sixty years, from 1960 until his retirement in 2021. He worked as a family physician, along with his partner, Dr. Bob Swearingen for over thirty years in the Swearingen-Garner Medical Clinic and in Tyler County Hospital, attending to the needs of patients from all over Tyler County. Dr. Garner worked as an emergency room physician for over thirty years at Tyler County Hospital until his retirement in 2021. He considered Tyler County Hospital his second home and had great admiration for the many nurses, doctors, staff and other personnel he served with there through the years.

He was a member of First Baptist Church of Woodville where he served as a Sunday school teacher for almost sixty years.

Dr. Garner was a man of faith and steadfastness who loved his family.

He was proceeded in death by his wife of sixty-two years, Anne Mahan Garner; parents, Curtis Marsh Garner and Verna Burkes Garner; and brother, John David Garner.

He is survived by daughters Melissa Garner of Woodville and Marian Ballard and husband Chris of Kingwood; son, Curtis Mahan Garner, and wife Karen of Hayden Idaho; grandchildren, Evan Lane and wife Stephanie, Barret Lane, Will Robinson, Elizabeth and husband John, Alison Van Velson, Emily Lash and husband Edward, Curtis Madison Garner and wife Lydia, Zachary Garner and wife Christina, and Mallory Pacheco and husband Kyle; and seventeen great –grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to First Baptist Church, 202 South Charleston Street, Woodville, Texas 75979.

Services are under the direction of Stringer & Griffin funeral home in Woodville, Texas.