A memorial service for Harlin Keith Stonecipher, M.D., age 79, of Schulenburg, Texas will be held on Saturday, May 28, 2016 from 11:00 am to noon at the Swiss Alp United Evangelical Lutheran Church Fellowship Hall 2100-2224 FM 3171, Schulenburg, Texas 78956, followed by a lunch for family and friends at the Stonecipher's log cabin off of Swiss Alp Hall Road.

Note: Due to inclement weather and pasture conditions, the lunch reception following the service will be held at Sengelmann Hall, 531 N. Main Street, Schulenburg, Texas 78956.

Harlin Keith Stonecipher (Keith) was born on February 24, 1937 in Canute, Oklahoma. His family moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma where he attended junior and senior high school. While in high school he met Nova G. Haining and they married five years later.

Keith graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelors Degree in History in 1959. In 1963 he graduated from the University of Oklahoma Medical School. The Stonecipher's first child, Robert, was born while Keith was still in medical school.

After completing a rotating internship at the Methodist Hospital in Dallas, Texas, he was drafted into the United States Army. He served as a Captain in the Medical Corps at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and Fort Gulick, Panama. On these tours he was joined by his wife Nova and son Robert. Their first daughter, Shelley, was born at Fort Knox.

After being honorably discharged, Dr. Stonecipher completed a three-year Internal Medicine residency at Hermann Hospital in Houston, Texas, during which their third child, Katherine, was born. Following his Internal Medicine residency, Keith completed a fellowship in Cardiology at Emory University Medical School in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1970, Keith and his family returned to Houston and he began his practice in Internal Medicine and Cardiology at Hermann Hospital with close friend and partner, Faber F. McMullen Jr. M.D. That same year he and Nova welcomed their fourth child, Kurt. Keith and Dr. McMullen practiced in the Texas Medical Center at Hermann Hospital, St. Luke's and finally at Park Plaza, a hospital they founded with other physicians. This partnership lasted for 27 years, after which they both retired.

In 1997, after retirement, he and Nova spent more time at their property in Swiss Alp, Texas, The Star S Ranch. Keith continued his studies in ranch management and his personal passion, American History, specifically, the expansion of the American West. His primary goal in all this was to build a place for his family to share. He delighted in his grandchildren and it was rare to have a weekend without at least one grandchild visiting. The Star S Ranch became a gathering place for his large and beloved extended family and many friends. The ranch was the site of several marriages, countless holiday celebrations and a refuge for many near and distant friends and family just in need of a break. The Star S Ranch also served as a way station on the MS 150 bicycle ride for many colleagues from the medical community in Houston.

His loss is immense, but his legacy more than matched that loss, and will radiate long in the lives of the countless people he helped in his roles as family man, friend, colleague, physician and mentor.

He was preceded in death by his mother and father, Maude and A.E. (Bill) Stonecipher; brother, Kenneth Gene; sister-in-law, Theta Happ; and brothers-in-law, Delmar E. Happ and Lois Magee. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Nova; and their children,Robert F. Stonecipher M.D. and wife Diane, Shelley Stonecipher and husband Philip Nelson, Katherine DeStefano, Kurt Stonecipher and wife Liane. There are seven grandchildren: Luke, Colin and Dylan Stonechipher; James DeStefano; Lane Nelson; Kate and Emily Stonecipher. Also surviving are sisters-in-law, Roseanne Stonecipher and Allene Magee; nieces and nephews, Mark Stonecipher (Debbie), Karl Stonecipher M.D. (Lynne), Pam Rettele, Rick Magee, Edith Kenney (Bill) and Michael Happ; great nephews and nieces Nathan, Matthew, Sean, Ashley, Carter, Caitlin, Megan and Kody.

The family requests donations be made to the Texas Heart Institute, CV Surgical Research, 6770 Bertner Ave., MC 3-117 Atten: John Greer, Houston Texas 77030, or to the charity of your choice.