Dr. Robert Dean Culpepper of Raymond, Mississippi, known to friends and family as Bob, died on Tuesday, November 4, 2014 at St. Dominics Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi following a brief struggle with cancer.
Bob was born at St. Dominics on October 27, 1946 to Royce Leo Culpepper and Mary Dean Bridges Culpepper. Bob spent the early years of his childhood in Jackson on Culpepper Drive, but Bobs father was a skilled jackofalltrades whose career took the family around the country and around the world.
Bob spent most of his elementary and junior high school years in Cocoa, Florida, where he led a carefree allAmerican boyhood and was an eyewitness to the early efforts of the space program, once selling a cocacola to famed rocket scientist Wehrner Von Braun.
Bob spent his high school years in Rochester, New York, where he earned a spot on the varsity basketball team, Hof, West Germany, where he made many lifelong friendships, and Jackson, where he returned home to graduate from Forest Hill.
After receiving degrees from Hinds Community College and the University of Southern Mississippi, Bob worked for two years as a computer programmer at a military installation on Shemya, Alaska, one of the most remote islands of the Aleutian chain, to save money for medical school.
In 1974 Bob returned to Jackson to attend the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where he met the love of his life, Madena Dena Jane Gibson.
Bob and Dena were married in 1976 and graduated medical school together in 1977. Everyone who met Bob and Dena could not help but be struck by the uncommon chemistry they shared.
Bob and Dena built a house and raised a family of five children on one hundred acres of land outside of Raymond. For over thirty years they worked together as medical consultants for the Mississippi Office of Disability Determination Services. Bob also spent ten years as the medical director of the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility where he was greatly respected by the inmates and staff for the high level of professional care he rendered.
In 2007, Bob was called by the Holy Spirit and was baptized at the Raymond Presbyterian Church. Bob took to the faith with a converts zeal and became a pillar of his church, ultimately serving as a ruling elder and becoming a shepherd to others in their walks with the Lord.
Bob inherited his fathers cando spirit and his mothers big heart and sense of humor. He spent many years renovating an antebellum home on Eagle Lake, Mississippi and loved spending time there with his family. He enjoyed traveling to Europe, cherished his daily drive to work with his beloved wife, and reveled in being a grandfather.
His wonderful stories, wise counsel, and generous spirit will be missed by all who knew him.
Bob was preceded in death by his father, mother, and older brother, Royce Bridges Culpepper. He is survived by his wife, his younger sister Elizabeth Culpepper Lovvorn, his children Ashley, Robert, John, Catherine, and Stephen, his niece Sayward Ely Fortner, whom he loved like a daughter, their spouses, his four grandchildren, Irene, Lexie, Mary, and Collin, and much extended family.
Funeral arrangements are being handled by Wright and Ferguson. Visitation will be on Friday, November 7 from 5:007:00 p.m. at Wright and Ferguson in Raymond. Services will be held at the Raymond Presbyterian Church on Saturday, November 8 at 11:00 a.m. with burial to follow at the Raymond Cemetery.