Jimmy Donald Giddens, 70, passed peacefully on February 24, 2014, surrounded by his family. Jimmy, a general surgeon for nearly 40 years, was born on May 17, 1943, in Norman, Oklahoma to J.D. and Iris Giddens, who preceded him in death.

Jimmy grew up in small towns in northern Oklahoma, the son of two educators, and graduated from Wakita High School in 1961. He graduated from Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine while helping raise the first of his six children. In 1969 he completed an internship at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas, a major trauma center.

While serving his country, Dr. Giddens completed his general surgery residency at Tripler Army Medical Center Hospital in Honolulu during the height of the Vietnam War. Tripler was the headquarters of the Pacific Region Medical Command of the Armed Forces and was the primary evacuation and trauma center for servicemen critically injured in combat. Helping those so seriously injured not only shaped Jimmy's life-long compassion for humanity but also his love of the U.S. military and its rich history. He achieved the rank of Major while completing his tour of duty stateside. Dr. Giddens was board certified by the American Board of Surgery and a Fellow in the American College of Surgeons.
Jimmy moved to Tulsa in 1977 and opened a solo general surgery practice despite not knowing another doctor in Tulsa at the time. In 1987 he, along with outstanding surgeons, Paul Shellabarger, Kent Towsley and Gary Decker formed Surgical Services, Inc. and later Dr. Giddens was a founding member of Oklahoma Surgery Inc. Dr. Giddens primarily practiced at Hillcrest Medical Center and St. John Medical Center and was proud to have served as the Chief of Surgery section and other positions of leadership at Hillcrest. Dr. Giddens never backed away from the tough case and was instrumental in bringing cutting edge procedures to patients who were severely burned. His peers tell the family Dr. Giddens improved the quality of surgical care at Hillcrest and throughout the Tulsa medical community. Jimmy was praised for his unassuming bedside manner and never-ending passion to help people leave the hospital and return to their normal lives.

Jimmy loved the outdoors, whether fishing, shooting guns, farming, gardening or in the boat with his kids. In his retirement years, Jimmy grew more tomatoes than he could possibly give away and insisted all guests walk through his vegetable garden, no matter what.

Jimmy healed many patients and touched many lives in his professional career but his family remained his priority.

Jimmy is survived by: Brigid Spanier Giddens, his wife of nearly 21 years; his brother, Jared and his wife Aleta Giddens (Edmond, OK); six children, Jeffrey and his wife Suzanne Giddens (Broken Arrow, OK), Elizabeth Giddens and her husband Jeffrey Govek (Southlake, TX), Kathryn and her husband Colin Carmichael (Bentonville, AR), Jason Giddens (Tulsa, OK), Jennifer and her husband Derrick Brown (Tulsa, OK) and Julie and her husband Nick Coughlan (Kingfisher, OK); nine grandchildren, Jonathan and his wife Ashley Giddens, Justin Giddens, Grant Carmichael, William Carmichael, Riley Govek, Christopher Govek, Jillian Brown, Cole Brown, Presten Coughlan and many important and cherished family members.

Services will be at 10 a.m. on Friday, February 28, 2014, at Holy Family Cathedral, 8th and Boulder, Tulsa, with interment immediately following in Memorial Park Cemetery.

Friends may honor Jimmy's memory with contributions to the American Heart Association.

FITZGERALD IVY CHAPEL 918-585-1151