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Betsy Mills and Ron Brothers. The Death and Cemetery Records of Lamar County, Texas, ReBroMa Press, 2008, http://www.lamarcountytx.org/cemetery. (12/15/2025)

THE PARIS NEWS, Mar. 13, 2005: "IRVING, Dr. Charles R. Baxter passed away at Zale-Lipshy Hospital in Dallas on Thursday, March 10, 2005. Funeral services are scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday, March 14, at Fellowship Church in Grapevine. Burial follows at 2 p.m. in Evergreen Cemetery in Paris under the direction of Fry-Gibbs Funeral Home. Visitation is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Ben Brown's Memorial Funeral Home. He was born in Paris in 1929. He entered Paris Junior College at age 16. He received Phi Beta Kappa honors at the University of Texas and graduated in 1950. He received his M.D. from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in 1954 and became a research investigator at Brook Army Hospital in 1956. After his discharge from the Army in 1958, he was accepted at the general surgery program at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. In 1961 he became director of the Parkland Burn Center. He was appointed professor of surgery in 1971 and became medical director of the Transplant Services Center in 1972. In 1977, he became the Frank H. Kidd, Jr., Professor of Surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern. In 1980 he became director of the NIH Burn Research Center. In September of 1980 the first issue of the Journal of Burn Care and Rehabilitation was published. He was the first and only editor for the next 17 years. During his more than 40 years at the Department of Surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern, he personified excellence in clinical care and clinical and basic research. He received numerous honors during his long and distinguished career. He was president of the American Burn Association from 1972-1973 and President of the American Association for Surgery of Trauma from 1980 to 1981. In 1981 he was awarded the American Burn Association's Harvey Stuart Allen Distinguished Service Award for lifetime outstanding service in the field of burns. He received the Whitaker International Burns Award in Palermo, Italy in 1983 and the Curtis P. Artz Award from the American Society of Trauma in 1985. From 1980 to 1990 he was the Research Advisory Board Chairman for Shriners Hospitals. One of the proudest moments in his career was in 1973 when Sherrie White, an 8 year-old girl, was discharged from the Parkland Burn Unit after sustaining a 92 percent body surface area burn, and was the first patient to receive a skin allograft from the newly established tissue bank. In conjunction with Ellen Heck, he established the first tissue bank, which quickly became a source for burn units throughout the country. He retired in 1992 and entered private practice for the care of chronic wounds. In 1993, he became a professor emeritus of surgery at University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. He directed the Baxter Wound Center until 2000. In 2003, he received the Tanner-Vandeput-Boswick International Burn Prize. He innovated the use of pigskin, then human skin, on burn wounds and was the founder and director of Parkland Memorial Hospital's Burn Center. In the 1970's Parkland was one of the two largest burn centers in the United States. His lifetime achievements have long ranked him among the giants in the field of burns, both nationally and internationally. His most enduring qualities were his sense of humor and humble rapport with everyone. Every description of him includes words like colorful, brilliant, entertaining and most of all caring. He was a legend in his chosen career as a doctor. He was known for his ability to teach medicine in colorful ways that all his peers respected. He was a pioneer in the development of the Burn Unit at Parkland Hospital. The 'Parkland/ Baxter Formula' for treating burn victims is world-renowned. His tireless efforts in research, training and treatment of patients will be appreciated for many generations to come. He was a member of Fellowship Church, Grapevine. He is survived by his dedicated wife of 49 years, Jo Ann Lee Baxter of Paris; three sons; David Brian, Robert Bradley and Ronald Lee and their respective wives, Kara, Teri and Kelley; 10 grandchildren Brianna, Clinton, Charlie, Shane, Blake, Melanie, Blace, Alison, Austin, and Alise. He was such a kind and gentle man, and so loved by his family and friends. The family is so grateful to the wonderful doctors, nurses and caregivers who made his last years and days more comfortable. He will be missed by all. Memorial contributions may be made to the Advancement of Transplant Services in care of Southwestern Medical Foundation at 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, Texas 75390-9074."
 

Charles R. Baxter, 75, one of the doctors who tried to save President John F. Kennedy after he was shot in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, died March 10 at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, where he had been a professor emeritus of surgery since 1993. He had pneumonia.  Dr. Baxter was a 34-year-old assistant professor at the Dallas medical school and director of the emergency room at Parkland Memorial Hospital when Kennedy was brought to the hospital.  Dr. Baxter and his colleagues tried to stabilize Kennedy, working to stop the bleeding and make it possible for him to breathe.  'As soon as we realized we had nothing medical to do, we all backed off from the man with a reverence that one has for one's president,' Dr. Baxter said in 1988. 'And we did not continue to be doctors from that point on. We became citizens again, and there were probably more tears shed in that room than in the surrounding hundred miles.' Dr. Baxter then performed surgery on Texas Gov. John Connally, who was seriously wounded in the attack. Dr. Baxter was a native of Paris, Tex., and was a 1950 graduate of the University of Texas. He received a medical degree from what is now the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas in 1954. Dr. Baxter developed a formula for burn patients, referred to as the Baxter Burn Formula or the Parkland Burn Formula. He discovered that patients with large, severe burns need tremendous amounts of fluid the first day of treatment, especially during the first eight hours. Dr. Baxter also founded a tissue bank at Parkland Hospital to provide skin grafts for burn patients. Survivors include his wife, Jo Ann Lee Baxter of Irving; three sons; and 10 grandchildren."