Clinton E. Hart Md

Clinton E. Hart, M.D. died peacefully at the Carriage House of Verandah on Wednesday, July 25^th, one day short of his 101^st birthday. Clinton was born on July 26, 1918, in Murphysboro, Illinois, one of five children. His youngest sister, Mildred Hart Collins of Granite City, Illinois, survives him. Dad completed his schooling in Illinois, including his medical degree, which he received from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1944. Soon thereafter, while training in Chicago, he met and married our mom, Margaret Henryson. After an internship at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, they moved to Herrin, Illinois, where Dad began his career as a general practitioner, serving as a doctor to the coal miners. After a few years, Dad decided to specialize.  He returned with his growing family to New Orleans where he completed his training in ophthalmology at Tulane University in 1953. His next move was to Bakersfield, California. It was on the trip from New Orleans to Bakersfield that the family drove through Lake Charles. Dad was captured by the beauty of the area, and when the chance presented itself,  he moved the family to Lake Charles in 1956. For a time, he was the only ophthalmologist here. He would spend the next 42 years serving the people of Lake Charles as a physician. He retired at the age of 80.

Dad loved being an ophthalmologist. One of his greatest joys was helping people to see better because he so much enjoyed the beauty he saw all around him. He especially loved cataract surgery and was one of the first Lake Charles physicians to perform intraocular lens implants, the training for which he received in England.

Dad also loved flower gardening because the beauty of nature brought him close to God. He was a faithful Christian and taught Sunday school for many years. Church was important to Dad, and he made sure that his family went to church. Even in his last years, when his memory began to slip, he never forgot that Sunday meant church. Clinton and Margaret were married for 64 years. Dad really never got over Mom's death in 2008, and would speak often of how much he missed “his beautiful Margaret.” Dad was very proud of his children and grandchildren and loved talking about them and seeing pictures of them.

Besides his sister, Mildred, he is survived by his brother-in-law, Arndt Braaten of Minnesota, his five children: William Hart (who practiced medicine with Dad and continues the practice Dad started), David Hart (Dale Daley), Barbara Hart Wyman (Bruce), Claudia Hart Boyer (James), John Hart, ten grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren

A private funeral will be held at First United Methodist Church. In lieu of flowers, donations may be given in his honor to First United Methodist Church, or to the McNeese Foundation for the Clinton Hart Nursing Scholarship, which he began.

The family would like to thank the many dedicated sitters who so kindly cared for Dad in his last years: Christy Johnson, Dawn Celestine, Angie Sovereign, Lenora Frank, and the late Veronica Latour. 

In his declining years, Dad looked forward to the regular afternoon visits by family. At he end of each visit, Dad would ask, “Will I see you tomorrow?” To which we would reply, “See you tomorrow, Dad.”  We will miss you. But we hope to see you tomorrow, Dad.