Hargrove Frederick Wooten, a native of Jacksonville, Florida, was born October 9, 1925, to Edward and Rosa Lee (Hargrove) Wooten, the fourth of eight siblings. His father, Edward Sr., was a tailor, and his mother, Rosa, worked as a laundress. Both attended college. Hargrove was educated in the public schools of Jacksonville. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacology at Xavier University in New Orleans, where he was elected president of the local chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. He earned a master’s degree from Texas Southern University. In 1960, he enrolled at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, earned an MD degree, and, in Houston, became the first African American to intern at Houston’s Memorial Hospital system. After practicing medicine and surgery for seven years and as a pharmacist and CEO of the Wooten’s Pharmacy chain, he enrolled at the University of Texas Health Science Center’s Department of Ophthalmology to complete a residency there.
Dr. Wooten served as the university physician for the University of Houston from 1966 to 1972, and later as chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Houston, and as Clinical Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Texas in Houston. He was CEO of both Physicians Eye Associates and Hargrove Wooten, MD, and Associates.
His professional and civic engagement was extensive and included his services as a member of the board of trustees of Xavier University, past president of the Houston Pharmaceutical Association, president of The Lone Star State Pharmaceutical Association, president of the Houston Medical Forum; member of the St. Peter the Apostle School Development Board; member in sixteen honorary, professional and civic organizations, including NAACP, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Chi Delta Mu Professional Fraternity, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
He served as Grand Sire Archon (president) of the Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity from 1994 to 1996.
Dr. Wooten met his wife, Eleanor Catherine Simon, while at Texas Southern. They were married in 1951 and remained so for 49 years, raising three girls, Florence, Patrice, and Sharon. His wife, Eleanor, managed all of Dr. Wooten’s businesses, including Wooten’s Pharmacy and his two medical practices.
Hargrove Frederick Wooten passed away on March 26, 2000, in Houston, Texas, and was followed by Eleanor in 2016. Their daughter, Dr. Florence Wooten, carries forth her father’s legacy as the founder and director of Florence Wooten, MD, and Wooten Vision Care.
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