Roll Call Tribute

James Otis Lively, Jr., DVM 

January 27, 1939 - May 13, 2024 

Dr. James Otis Lively was born 27 January 1939 in Port Arthur, Texas, to James Otis and Pearl Talbert Lively. He left us on 13 May 2024, a cancer laying claim to the body James fought so valiantly to defend.

James relocated with his family to Navasota when he was seven years of age, where he remained until moving on to Texas A & M University with a determination to study veterinary medicine. The ambition came early. Soon after the family settled in East Texas he began working alongside Mr. Elliot, who owned the drugstore on East Washington Avenue. It was Mr. Elliot, James said, who inspired his love of medicine. And so it was that while most boys his age were peddling their bicycles to deliver newspapers, James delivered medicine. His drive and self-reliance carried him through college, continuing his work for Mr. Elliot while digging trenches for the local utility company, picking cotton, and counseling troubled boys at The Allan Academy until entering A & M’s veterinary school, receiving his doctorate with distinction in 1962. Then it was on to Fort Worth where he began practicing with a local veterinarian.

One might say the move was with foresight, maybe it was divinatory, as it wasn’t long before he met Marianna at University Baptist. The blue eyes is what grabbed her attention, she said, so it was only natural that she offered him her Right Hand of Fellowship the day he joined the Church; the right hand also passed along her phone number. But two weeks went by and not a word! He finally dialed, explaining after she asked, “What took so long?” that he had been busy working. Or maybe it was a case of nerves. Afterall, he was holding the phone number of a great beauty from the plains of west Texas, with a mind of her own. This was a young woman who instead of bringing a car to TCU brought her horse, saddle, and spurs.

It was a long-distance courtship since March Air Force Base in Riverside, California needed a vet and Marianna was still at TCU. They married in Gruver in 1963, soon after Papaw Cluck gave his blessing. James recalls the story this way: The conversation occurred over the phone. After describing the ways he would care for Marianna, her father said, “Sure. Now who is this?” James and Papaw Cluck quickly became the best of friends.

James and Marianna spent the following year together on the base, blissfully, before returning to Fort Worth, at which time she completed her nursing degree. Two years later they were off to Arlington where they raised a family and James built a successful clinic where he practiced animal medicine over the next 36 years, retiring to Fredericksburg in 2002.

But he never really settled down. He read incessantly—the history of religion, philosophy, human behavior, the nature of consciousness, no subject was off limits. Kahlil Gibran wrote, “Work is love made visible.” Well, James lived the quote, although sometimes in ways that seemed utterly contrary to his nature. Reserved as he was, skeptical as well of people who eagerly volunteered for membership on committees whose decisions would impact others, James was nevertheless a member of Fort Worth’s Broadway Baptist Church; he served on the Board of Trustees for the Texas American Bank; chaired Arlington’s Planning and Zoning Commission; and was President of the Tarrant County Veterinary Medical Association. If he were reading this today, he’d likely quip that meeting too many people aspiring to positions of authority who wind up doing unwise things, it was his civic duty to keep the ship afloat. He did, smoothly, without rancor or insult.

James was a Southern gentleman. He looked you in the eye and did exactly what he said he’d do. And he did much. After retirement, he volunteered his medical services, built homes for Habitat for Humanity, transported the infirmed to their doctor appointments, planted an orchard on their land of over a hundred trees, while delivering produce grown in his garden to friends and neighbors. And his love of animals never diminished. It is not exaggeration to say he saved the lives of thousands of animals throughout north and central Texas. Clients often asked if he had animals at home, maybe thinking that an animal was the last thing a vet would want to see before dinner. That was not James. At varying points in time his home was the local wildlife park—cows, horses, donkeys, goats, rabbits, cats, dogs, roosters, owls, and a parakeet Marianna returned to the pet store because he refused to sing.

But above all else, Dr. Lively’s deepest love was his family. There was no greater joy than seeing Marianna’s smile and hearing the laughter of his children and grandchildren. He also counted as family his many friends, for he was blessed by their endless love and respect.

He was preceded in death by his first daughter, Lisa Gail Lively, and his brother, John Robert Lively. He leaves behind his beloved wife of 61 years Marianna Cluck Lively, sons John Marc and Clinton James Lively, and daughter Courtney E. Lively. He also leaves behind John Marc’s wife Angela Menchaca Lively, Courtney’s husband Dr. Michael Strober, grandsons Elliot and Jacob, sister Susanne Lively Gilmore and husband Don, sister-in-law Brooke Kelly Lively, brother-in-law John T. Cluck and wife Peggye, brother-in-law Ben Clinton Cluck, and seven nieces and two nephews.

The family wishes to thank the Hill Country Methodist doctors, nurses, chaplains, and assistants for their dedication and compassion during this difficult time. And we are especially grateful to Dr. Leo C. Tynan for his many years of care.

A service to honor the life of Dr. James Lively will be held at 11 am on 17 May 2024 at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, with a reception to follow.

Arrangements are by the Schaetter Funeral Home