Famed Texas surgeon Dr. James 'Red' Duke dies at 86

HOUSTON — In the city that’s home to the world’s largest medical complex, one doctor was arguably the most famous of them all.

Dr. James “Red” Duke was an emergency room doctor with the presence of a cowboy movie star — a self-described outlaw known far and wide.

“I’ve always been kind of a little troublemaker, but I guess I’m a pretty good outlaw,” Duke told KHOU-TV years ago.

Duke passed away Tuesday at the age of 86, his family announced.

“To countless colleagues, friends and patients, he was a skilled physician, innovative health care provider, exceptional communicator and dedicated conservationist,” his family said in a statement.

Duke’s cluttered office reflected not only his colorful personality, but also a colorful life. You’d never guess the man working amid the mess was an elder statesman in Houston emergency medicine.

He was a world-renowned trauma surgeon known as much for his Texas twang and big red mustache as his medical skills. He was a surgeon and professor at University of Texas Health Science Center and Memorial Hermann Hospital.

His signature accomplishment in Houston was his role in putting Life Flight helicopters into the skies — dramatically dropping the time it took to transfer traumatically injured patients to hospitals. And his reach spanned beyond Houston and Texas: People across the nation knew him best for his nationally syndicated “Dr. Red Health Reports” that aired for 15 years.

As comfortable as he was on camera, Duke rarely talked about his most famous case.

On Nov. 22, 1963, President Kennedy’s visit to Dallas was all over local TV, but Duke didn’t pay much attention — until the gravely wounded president showed up in the emergency room at Parkland Hospital.

“I right quick recognized that this was a fatal injury,” he recalled in an interview years ago. “I knew he’d been hit badly.”

That same day, Duke treated Texas Gov. John Connally, who was shot as he sat near Kennedy in the limo, and saved his life.

Duke was born in Ennis, Texas, and was a 1950 graduate of Texas A&M University, where he was a yell leader.

He served in the U.S. Army on a two-year tour of duty as a tank officer in the 2nd Armored Division.

Duke attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he received a divinity degree in 1955. Five years later, he received his medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

He came to Houston in the early 1970s and stayed for the rest of his life. He was named Surgeon of the Year by the James F. Mitchell Foundation in 1988 and was a candidate for U.S. Surgeon General in 1988.

The University of Texas Medical School at Houston Department of Surgery sponsored a scholarship fund in honor of Duke, aimed at students who wanted to study in the trauma field.

We’ll never know how many lives he saved.

Now, this larger-than-life man of medicine has left this life, passing into a legend, but leaving us with his signature sign-off:

“From the UT Health Science Center, I’m Dr. Red Duke.”