Dr. James Robert Laughlin, a long time Beaumont resident and Oral Maxillofacial Surgeon, died the morning of Friday May 6, 2011.  He passed away at the age of 66.

Jim or “Jim Bob”, as he was known to his closest family and friends, was a native of Morehead, Kentucky.  Jim attended Tulane University, where he was a student athlete and served as the president of the student body. Following his undergraduate program, Jim studied medicine at the University of Kentucky School Of Dentistry and continued his training at Louisiana State University Hospital in Shreveport, where upon completion; he received his Oral Maxillofacial degree.  At that time, he also received the Mosby Scholarship Book Award for Academic Excellence.

Jim was also very active within the medical community donating his time as the delegate from Texas for the American Dental Association.  He was also past President of the Sabine District Dental Society and served as Chairman of the Membership and Examination Committee for the Texas Society of Oral Surgery.  Jim was also a Clinical Teaching Professor at The University of Texas Medical School in Galveston for the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery.

Jim was a staff member at Baptist Hospital and at one time the chief of the Maxillofacial division at St. Elizabeth Hospital.  It is perhaps fitting that Jim passed away in the care of his family, friends, and colleagues at Baptist, where he received the kind of care that he provided to so many others.

Jim’s top priorities were his family, his faith, his patients, the Beaumont community, and his favorite pass time, golf.  Once asked how far he would drive to play a round of golf and Jim answered, "Depends on how well I'm playing."

Jim was a sports enthusiast, an avid reader and had a wonderful sense of humor.  He was extremely generous and compassionate, a great listener and a very loyal friend.  But most of all an amazing husband and father.

Jim is survived by his wife, Dale and son Robert; stepdaughters, Elizabeth Nelson and Katherine Davis, her husband Scott and their children Austin, Andrew and Grace Davis.   Jim is also survived by his aunts, Vivian Carpenter, Gladys Wiggins and his uncle, Charles Wiggins.

A gathering of his family and friends will be Monday, May 9, 2011, from 5p.m. to 6:30p.m., at Broussard’s, 1605 N. Major Drive, Beaumont. His funeral service will be 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, May 10, 2011, at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 680 Calder, Beaumont, with burial to follow at Magnolia Cemetery in Beaumont.

The family asks that donations be made to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 5144, Beaumont, Texas 77726.