Tony B Selmon

Dr. Tony B. Selmon of Stamford, a beloved longtime family physician, died January 16, 2017 at Stamford Memorial Hospital. He was 99 years 11 months and 15 days old. He will be remembered during funeral services at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, January 21, 2017 at the Central Presbyterian Church (601 Rowland Dr.) with the Dr. Kelly Pigott officiating. Burial will follow in Highland Memorial Cemetery under the direction of Tankersley Funeral Home.
Tony was born February 1, 1917 to John C. and Emma (Zinn) Selmon in Spur, Texas. His father, “Scandlass” John, was a career cowboy who started out as a ranch hand on the Spur Ranch. When the Swenson Brothers bought the ranch he was working on, he chose to stay on and ride for the SMS brand. In 1919 John, along with his wife and son Tony moved to the old headquarters located on the Flat Top Ranch. Tony had fond memories of his first pony, a black Shetland with a white face that he named “Jug” and the fact that his dad loaded the pony into his Model T to take it home.
Tony started to school at Tuxedo, and the next year his parents got a small apartment in Stamford so he could start 2nd grade in town. The Selmons would often return to the ranch house to spend their weekends. Tony graduated from Stamford High School in 1935 during the era of finishing school after 11 years.
Following high school graduation, Tony tested many career opportunities: working for his father on the ranch, moving to Burkburnett where he dug ditches for the gas company, and entering commercial college in Ft. Worth to study bookkeeping. Upon completion of the course he was hired at Hardey Motor Company in Stamford.
About this time, Selmon began courting his wife, Maxine Rowland. She was going to school to be a teacher, and one day he picked up her psychology textbook and became interested in it. He decided he wanted to be a psychiatrist, but he first had to get his medical degree. He enrolled in Texas Tech’s pre-med program and after graduation, he was accepted to Galveston’s medical school where he achieved his medical degree.
Shortly after entering medical school, Tony heard on the radio about the bombing of Pearl Harbor, a place he had never heard of prior to December 7, 1941, but one he would never forget. Mr. Selmon enlisted to serve his country in the United States Navy, but was allowed to finish medical school. He graduated in 1944 and was sent to a Naval hospital in San Diego to do his internship. The San Diego hospital was huge having at any one time more than 10,000 patients. Wounded or sick soldiers, both Navy and Army, were brought in by the shiploads to this hospital.
After completion of his internship, he was sent to Washington where he was tapped to go to China. While awaiting orders, he was reassigned to San Francisco where he worked on barrack barges. Dr. Selmon traveled on the barge from San Francisco to Pearl Harbor, a trip that took them 2 weeks to get there. Upon reaching Pearl Harbor in 1945, the war in Europe was over. After an extended two week stay in Hawaii, his unit moved on to the South Pacific and reached just east of the international dateline. During this time, they would travel at night in complete darkness with ships all around them. One night all lights were turned on and the cannon was fired in celebration as the word spread that the Japanese had surrendered. Dr. Selmon stayed in the South Pacific for 7 to 8 months before returning to Hawaii where he was in sick bay for a knee injury and then shipped to Corpus Christi in 1946. He was then discharged and came back to Stamford where he joined the other practicing doctors, Dr. E.P. Bunkley and Dr. Ike Hudson. He was one of the three doctors that built the Stamford Health Clinic that still stands beside the hospital today.Dr. Selmon practiced in Stamford a total of 38 years before retiring at age of 66. Following his tour of duty for his country, he was reunited with his wife Maxine, whom he married on June 11, 1943 and his daughter Sara Tee was born on January 23, 1945. The Selmons were later blessed with two sons; John Richard and Matthew Roland.
Dr. Selmon was called back into military duty in 1953, where he served again as a doctor on a Navy ship that carried troops and dependents back and forth to Japan. Each of the trips took a month to make and he made six trips. Following his discharge, he joined the Naval Reserves and served many years as a reservist until he retired.
After retiring from his medical practice, he enjoyed spending time with his wife and woodworking. His wife, Maxine, passed away after 68 years of marriage in 2011. The Selmons were active members of Central Presbyterian Church.
Survivors include one daughter, Dr. Sara Tee Campion of Highbridge, WI; two sons, John Richard Selmon and wife Pricilla of Redondo Beach, CA and Dr. Matthew Rowland Selmon and wife Lezli of Austin, TX; six grandchildren, Zachary Benjamin Selmon and wife Jessica, Sara Piper Selmon, Haley Catherine Selmon, Matthew Spencer Selmon, Kimberly Berniece Selmon, and Richard Keifer Selmon; great granddaughter, Rae Maxine Selmon. He was preceded in death by his wife Maxine, his parents and son-in-law, David Campion.