Roll Call Tribute

Published in (Harlingen) Valley Morning Star on Jan. 19, 2014

Dr. Albert Pickard(1921 - 2014)
Albert Marshall Pickard
August 22, 1921 -
January 15, 2014
RAYMONDVILLE, TX. -- Dr. Albert Marshall Pickard passed away at his home in Raymondville, Texas on January 15, 2014, as a consequence of old age. As Texas' oldest, full-time practicing veterinarian, Dr. Pickard often said people would know he had retired when they saw his name on a tombstone.
Marshall Pickard was born in Ladonia, Texas on August 22, 1921, to Laurence and Laura Pickard, the middle child of five children and was reared in neighboring Pecan Gap. At the age of 12, he had his own small dairy herd, which later paid his way through Texas A&M where he secured his degree in Veterinary Medicine in January 1943. His letters home from that time are full of veterinary advice to his father about caring for his cows and other livestock.
Upon graduation, Dr. Pickard joined the U. S. Army and served in the 124th Horse Cavalry Regiment, the last horse cavalry in the U. S. Army. He spent 18 months in China, Burma, and India with the Mars Task Force caring for its pack mules, walking 400 miles across Burma on the Ledo Road, then riding the mules more than 700 miles over the Himalayas into China on the Burma Road. It was while training with the Horse Cavalry at Ft. Brown, in Brownsville, Texas that he met Billie Conley of Raymondville, whom he married the summer after his return from the CBI Theater and discharge as Captain, Veterinary Corp, in early 1946.
He started his first practice and cattle operation in 1946 in Pecan Gap, but unable to transplant his South Texas bride to the North Texas climate, they moved to Raymondville in 1948. His career as a veterinarian spanned 70 years.
Much of his large animal veterinary career was devoted to outspoken opposition to the USDA Brucellosis Eradication Program for its over-condemnation of healthy cattle. Labeled by a fellow cattleman as "Isaiah crying in the wilderness," he maintained throughout his career that the program caused needless destruction of healthy cattle and cost his clients and the cattle industry millions of dollars. Working to change the program was a personally and politically costly position for him to take, but he took great satisfaction in the introduction of a more effective vaccine in 1996 and resolution of the over-condemnation issues inherent in the program.
In his younger years, Dr. Pickard's greatest interest was his large animal practice, but in his later years he derived great joy from his small animal practice and the opportunity to provide affordable basic services to clients from all corners of the Valley. His family wishes to thank the many people who were his clients for sharing their pets, and themselves, with Dr. Pickard. He appreciated each of you very much.
Dr. Pickard always saw the opportunities in life and was a great encourager. He was an avid reader, especially of local history. He loved to work and was always inventing. He loved the people of South Texas, doing business in Mexico, and playing polo. He was active in his community, serving on church and community boards, working with cattle industry groups, and helping the local FFA and 4-H students preparing for livestock shows. In the early 1960s, he and his wife comprised 50% of the votes in the first Republican Primary in Willacy County, which took place at the Gem Street home of Mr. and Mrs. David Jones -- the other 50%. He was appointed to the United States Department of Agriculture Industry Advisory Committee on Hoof and Mouth Disease by President Richard Nixon. When he could no longer manage a livestock operation, he added a real estate license to his resume and would happily offer to sell a house to a customer while administering a rabies shot.
Most of all, he loved his family and the many wonderful people he counted as friends. He and Billie were a great team, and the home they made together was a place filled with love. He was extremely grateful to Aurora Pedraza for her work alongside him in the clinic for thirty years and to Araceli Lara for her loving care for more than forty years. Julian Hernandez brought special joy to him during their shared meals. Millie Cantu, Agustin Lopez, Juan Manuel Lopez, Alice Pedraza, and Paul Villa were also greatly appreciated for the many things they did to make it possible for him to lead a fulfilling life in his later years. True to his vow, he was able to work up to the day he entered the hospital, and his life was rich and full to the end.
Dr. Pickard was pre-deceased by his wife of 64 years, Billie Conley Pickard, and is survived by daughter, Marsha Ann (Shan) Pickard Rankin (Davis) and son, Robert Marshall (Bob) Pickard (Lessie); grandchildren Sarah Elizabeth Pickard, Rachel Suzanne Pickard, Marshall Davis Rankin, and Charles Duncan Conley Rankin; a sister, Marie Kerr, and numerous nieces and nephews.
A family visitation will be held Friday, January 24, 2014, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at Duddlesten Funeral Home, 604 W. Hidalgo, in Raymondville.
The funeral service will be held Saturday, January 25, 2014, at 2:00 pm at the First United Methodist Church 192 S. 3rd, and W. Hidalgo, in Raymondville.
In lieu of flowers and in celebration of Dr. Pickard's commitment to his community and worthy causes, the family suggests memorial gifts may be made to the First United Methodist Church of Raymondville, 192 S. 3rd Street, Raymondville, TX 78580; the Willacy County Community and Historical Center, 427 S. 7th Street, Raymondville, TX 78580; the Museum of South Texas History, 200 N. Closner Blvd., Edinburg, TX 78541; the Palm Valley Animal Center Capital Campaign, 2501 West Trenton Road, McAllen, TX 78539, or a charity of one's choice .
Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Duddlesten Funeral Home, 604 W. Hidalgo, Raymondville, TX.
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