Dr. George Jeffries Oliver Jr. died on Saturday, March 12, 2016, at Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center after a brief illness.
Dr. Oliver was born the only child of George Jeffries Oliver Sr. and Clara Bell Oliver on November 10, 1923, in Norfolk and grew up on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. He graduated from the University of Richmond in 1944. Dr. Oliver went to medical school at the Medical College of Virginia during World War II as part of the Navy V-12 training program.
After his graduation in 1947, he served on active duty in the U.S. Air Force for nearly 10 years at various U.S. Air Force medical facilities around the country. Dr. Oliver remained in the U.S. Air Force Reserves until his retirement from the U.S. Air Force.
In 1958, Dr. Oliver settled in Williamsburg, where he set up his medical practice in general surgery and gynecology. He was on the medical staff at Williamsburg’s Bell Hospital. Dr. Oliver was then one of the founding physicians of Williamsburg Community Hospital and served as the chief of medical staff for several terms. He retired from the active practice of medicine in 1987.
Outside of his medical practice, Dr. Oliver also served the community’s medical needs in other capacities. His greatest joy was serving as the team physician for the College of William & Mary Athletics, primarily the football team, from the early 1960s to his official retirement in 2004. He was an early practitioner of sports medicine and dearly loved his work with the athletes, training staff and coaches at the College of William & Mary. For decades, he was a fixture on the sidelines at Zable Stadium. For many years, Dr. Oliver was also the medical director for the Anheuser Busch Golf Classic at the Kingsmill Golf Course; a volunteer position in which he was able to combine his medical skills with one of his other passions: golf.
Dr. Oliver was a lifetime member of the Medical College of Virginia Alumni Association, serving as its president for one term. He was also a six-year member of the Williamsburg-James City County School Board. Local swimmers of a past era will also remember Dr. Oliver as the head starter for the Motor House Swim Team.
Dr. Oliver will be deeply missed by his family, to which he was completely devoted. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Barbara Richardson; his three children, Jeff (Penny) Oliver of Lafayette, Colo.; Lou (Tom) Brooks of Spring Lake, N.C.; Dougie (Jim) Winthrop of Williamsburg; seven grandchildren, Katie Brooks Webster, Elizabeth Winthrop, Jonathan Oliver, Alex Brooks Hammill, Jack Winthrop, Tyler Oliver and Jane Winthrop; and three great-grandchildren, Braxton Webster, Olivia Hammill and Lucas Webster. Dr. Oliver is also survived by his first cousin, Katharine Langhorne Oliver.
Services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 19, at the Williamsburg Presbyterian Church. There will be no visitation and interment will be private.
The family is grateful to the nurses, physicians and staff of Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center for the exceptional care they provided Dr. Oliver over the past several years.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in memory of Dr. Oliver may be made to the College of William & Mary Athletic Educational Foundation at tribeathletics.com, or to Child Development Resources at P.O. Box 280, Norge, VA 23127.
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