Written by Michael Claxton
The primary care doctor my mother saw for 40 years in Georgia retired in the spring. He was such a caring physician that mother asked him not to retire while she was still living. He smiled but could not make such a promise. So, we spent much of the summer trying to break in a new doctor. Mom likes him, but, as she says, “It won’t be the same.”
Much of Searcy knows exactly how she feels. While most Harding students were away for the summer, an icon of our school and community passed away, and groups all over town will mourn his absence.
Jim Citty was born in rural Oklahoma. His father died when Jim was very young. When he graduated from high school, his minister suggested he visit Harding. So, with $25 he had earned hauling hay that summer, and with only one pair of jeans to his name, Jim enrolled as a freshman in 1957. A natural athlete, he played basketball and ran track, and when Harding restarted its football program in 1959, Jim became the team captain. He met his wife Maralyn at Harding, and after graduation in 1961, she encouraged him to apply to medical school.
There were no doctors in his family, so this was a leap of faith. After four years at the University of Tennessee, Jim spent the next three in residency with the Army Medical Corps at Fort Bliss and Brooks Army Medical Center. He then moved his young family to DeQueen, Arkansas, to start a practice. In 1975, he got a call from legendary football coach John Prock, asking him to come back to Harding as the team doctor. So, Jim and Maralyn and their four children moved to Searcy and spent the next 47 years investing in this community.
Doc Citty worked at Searcy Medical Center as an obstetrician and estimated that during his career, he delivered 10,000 babies. That means that a significant percentage of the population of Searcy passed through his hands. For many locals, he was their doctor for decades, and they loved him for his kindness, his graciousness as a listener and his care that extended beyond their physical health. His staff loved him and laughed about the whistle this ex-footballer used in the office whenever he needed to summon someone.
Every member of the Bison Football team knew Doc Citty. Over the years, he kept 60 to 120 athletes healthy each season, attended to their injuries and cleared them to play. But he also modeled Christian manhood for these boys, welcoming them into his home for devotionals and treating them like family. He was on the sidelines for every University and Academy game for 45 years. “This loss is tremendous,” Harding head football coach Paul Simmons told The Daily Citizen in May. “Dr. Citty was a larger-than-life figure . . . strong, steady and he lived a life of faithfulness.”
At the College Church of Christ, Jim served as an elder for 27 years. His commitment to biblical truth and his strong convictions helped steer the flock. For nearly 40 years, he and fellow Harding athlete Steve Smith taught a class for young married couples. He and Smith were such good teachers that many stayed in the class long after they no longer qualified as “young.”
As a medical missionary, Jim traveled to the San Blas Islands in Panama each year for three decades. At home, he created the Great Physician Clinic to minister to the underserved in Searcy. With all the births he had witnessed in his career, he was a champion for the sanctity of life and helped organize the Friends for Life Pregnancy Center.
Many honors came his way. The captain of Harding’s football team received 10 athletic letters and was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame in 1990. Later, in 2011, the Jim Citty Football and Athletic Training Complex was opened on campus. Former Searcy Mayor David Morris presented Jim with the Key to the City in 2014. Harding named him its “Outstanding Alumnus” in 2019.
A schedule this packed would seem to leave little time for family, but that was not the case for Doc Citty. A devoted family man, he was married to Maralyn for 60 years, and together they raised two obstetricians, a cheerleading coach and a brave son with special needs. Jim adored his four kids, nine grandchildren and great-grandson.
Doc Citty retained his football physique throughout life. Described as “a mountain of a man,” he was known for his trademark wide smile and personal warmth.
“Young people can never have too many examples of servant leadership,” Charles Ganus, member of Harding’s Board of Trustees and fellow College Church elder, said. Jim Citty’s legacy will remain, not least in the 10,000 kids he ushered into this world and the countless athletes he ushered into adulthood.
