Royce A. Hinkle, Jr.

It is with profound sadness that the family of Royce A Hinkle, Jr., MD, shares the loss of a devoted husband, beloved father and grandfather, trusted friend and family physician. Royce loved his professional and family life, and though reluctant to depart, he died peacefully at age 90 on the family farm we call home on Friday, November 25, 2022.

Royce was born in Denison, Texas to Royce Albert Hinkle, Sr. and Berniece Cissna Hinkle. The family moved from Texas to Muskogee, Oklahoma after Royce, Sr. returned from WWII. As a child, Royce attended Calvary Baptist Church and as a youth found his faith in God accepting Christ as his Savior.

Upon graduation from Muskogee Central High School (1950), Royce attended and graduated from NEO Tahlequah (1953) and UMKC School of Dentistry (1955). Royce served as Captain in the USAF on the dental flight line at Cannon AFB (1957) where he realized his true desire was to practice medicine. On discharge, Royce returned to Oklahoma to study general medicine and graduated from University of Oklahoma School of Medicine in 1963, followed by a year of internship at St. Anthony Hospital.

Dr. Hinkle came to Midwest City in 1964, initially joining the medical practice of Dr V.M. Rutherford. Through his tireless work and excellent skills as a family physician, general surgeon, anesthetist, and obstetrician, Royce quickly became the junior partner of Rutherford-Hinkle Clinic. In 1981, Dr. Hinkle opened Douglas Medical Center and with his dedicated clinical staff by his side provided patient care to the eastside Midwest City community until 2012. Dr. Hinkle was a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians and served as Chief of Medical Staff at Midwest City Regional Hospital during its transition. He was a long-standing member of the Board of Directors of First National Bank of Midwest City and Medical Director for Primecare Oklahoma.

Always reading and researching, Dr. Hinkle applied knowledge he acquired to improving the lives of his patients from the early days of his practice until he officially retired in 2018. Dr. Hinkle had a true calling to medicine spanning 54 years of service to the Midwest City community.

Dr Hinkle was an active community member, a Freemason and a Shriner until the demands of his professional life grew and those activities were put away to spend time with family and friends. He lived a full life and fulfilled his life goal: to serve God, family, community and his fellow man.

Royce loved his family, friends, farm, trees and irises. With his wife and children by his side, Royce transformed 200 acres of Oklahoma pasture into lush groves of pines and sloping hills of beautiful deciduous trees. This, too, was a lifetime of work where "Doc" also raised quarter horses, limousine cattle, silky chickens, and, most significantly, his beloved dogs.

Royce enjoyed golf, swimming, boats, airplanes, water and snow skiing, Sooner football, Big Tex, and good rum and coke. Royce loved Christmas, Hanukkah, and the 4th of July, especially because these were times spent with his closest friends and family. Royce enjoyed a strong cup of coffee in the morning and a smooth cup of English tea in the late afternoon with Freda, as they caught up on daily news of home and abroad. HE LOVED LIFE AND LIVED IT WELL!

Royce is survived by his devoted wife and faithful friend Freda, his beloved children, lovely granddaughters and their families. While we deeply mourn his departure, we are comforted by the knowledge that he rests peacefully with Christ as His Savior and God as His Father.

"Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” - Matthew 25:23

A Celebration of Life service is scheduled on Saturday, December 17, at 10 AM, at First Southern Baptist Church, 6400 S. Sooner Road, Oklahoma City, 73135. If you want to share a personal message or memory, please visit WalkerFuneral.com

Rather than flowers the family suggests a donation to National Kidney Foundation kidney.org, OK Kids Korral okkidskorral.org, a partnership of the Toby Keith Foundation and OUHSC assisting families of children battling cancer, or a charity of your choice.