Plant City is mourning the losses of Dr. Joseph LaRue Richter, a pharmacist and physician of 34 years, and J. Myrle Henry, a pharmacist of more than 50 years who owned several drug stores in town. Both men — who were not only acquainted through their field but also longtime friends and neighbors — passed away at the beginning of the year.
Richter, 78, whom friends and family always referred to as “LaRue,” passed away on Jan. 1. Henry, 82, passed away on Jan. 8. Both men were raised in Plant City, attended Plant City High School and went on to study pharmacy at the University of Florida.
When Henry graduated and returned to Plant City, he jumped right into work with Magnolia Pharmacy. Henry would go on to have a 50-year career as one of Plant City’s most beloved pharmacists and owned three drug stores in that span. Henry was willing to help others in need at his store, whether they had trouble coming up with the money to afford a medication they needed or just needed some expert guidance on a medical issue.
To Henry and others in town at the time, there was no competition — just a kind of kinship.
“We lived in the same facility when I first went to UF,” Joe Newsome, himself a former pharmacist who studied at UF with Richter and Henry, said. “Myrle was a couple years ahead of me. We became close friends. He was an outstanding pharmacist and a hard worker. We were friendly competitors… we only had 13 doctors when I got out of college, so we were all friends. And in my role at the hospital I really got close to the doctors. We weren’t competitors — just fellow pharmacists. It was a good time to be a pharmacist.”
Richter worked as a pharmacist in Plant City after he graduated, but he eventually decided to try his hand at medical school to become a physician. There was just one problem: in the United States, he was considered “too old” to start.
“He got a lot of support in the community when he did decide to go to medical school,” his wife Peggy Richter said. “Back in the 1970s there was a glut of physicians in this country and it was very hard to get into medical school… he went to UF and they told him not to bother applying because he was over 30.”
Richter didn’t give up, though, and learned he could pursue his dream at the University of Seville in Spain. He moved his family overseas in 1974, taught himself to speak Spanish and would come back to the United States between sessions to work.
“Dr. Richter worked for Myrle some at Magnolia, especially in the summer when he was home from Spain,” Newsome said. “Then he’d save enough to go back to med school. LaRue worked hard to get where he was.”
Richter underwent clinical training in Baltimore and eventually came back to Plant City in 1986 to settle down in his hometown and practice for 34 years.
“He was very smart when it came to medicine,” Frank LaBarbera said. “He was a good doctor. Everybody liked him. He was a real down-to-earth, friendly guy.”
Henry “had a real love for downtown Plant City,” City Commissioner Mike Sparkman said, and was always working on some way to revitalize the area. Henry was a member of the CRA advisory board and the board that oversaw the building of the Plant City Towers facilities. He was heavily involved in the creation of the Strawberry Classic Cruise-In and the Florida Opry. He was also a South Florida Baptist Hospital trustee and a member of the Lions Club (and a past Grand Lion of Florida), the Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce, Evangelical Theological Seminary, Gideons International and First Baptist Church of Plant City. Henry was also named Plant City’s Citizen of the Year in 2001.
“I’ve spent a lot of time with Myrle,” Dr. Ron Churchill, former pastor of First Baptist Church of Plant City, said. “He was a very Godly man… he was very, very active in a lot of different things and always did a great job. He had a fine family. He really ministered to people through (pharmacy).”
Richter was a member of the Plant City Elks, once spent some time as an auxiliary Sheriff’s deputy with Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and was also a founding member of the Friends of Christmas group, which is best-known around Plant City for installing the nativity scene downtown every year. An avid hunter, Richter enjoyed helping the Elks with the Wild Game Cookout fundraisers. He was also a well-known tinkerer, seemingly always rebuilding some small airplane in his garage or working on classic cars. His hobbies helped him relay medical information to patients in ways they could more easily understand.
“He was a very down-to-earth guy,” Peggy Richter said. “I thought it was interesting how he could make things understandable to his patients by relating them to things they knew. If you had a well guy or a mechanic guy, he would relate their diabetes or heart disease to some kind of engine function, water physics or some such thing.”
One of those patients was Henry himself.
Richter and Henry were neighbors, friends, huge Florida Gators fans and constant supporters of each other.
“It’s great to be able to live your life in a town like Plant City and have friends like that,” Newsome said. “There wasn’t any of us that wouldn’t help each other in a heartbeat.”
Richter was preceded in death by his first wife, Lillian Procchi Richter; grandson, Christian Jeffcoat; and sister, Esther Glover. He is survived by his wife Peggy and a blended family: children Joe (Robin) Richter, Mark (Kelly) Richter, Alan (Jessica) Richter, Chris (Nicole) Jeffcoat, Leslie Jeffcoat and Adriana Fasano; grandchildren Makayla, Savannah, Lillie and Mia; and great-grandchildren Delaney and Arya.
Henry is survived by his wife of 61 years, Tommie Henry; daughters Cheri Kim Ennis (Kevin) of Lakeland and Dr. Kathy Lynn Henry of Cropwell, Alabama; and many other family and friends.