Dr.William Andrew “Bill” McBride, Jr. passed away peacefully at home on September 4th, 2013 after an extended illness. He was a lifelong resident of Shreveport and a 1939 graduate of C. E. Byrd High School; a graduate of Louisiana Tech with a B. S. Degree and received his M.D. from LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans in 1945. He did his specialty training in Neurology and Psychiatry at the University of Tennessee.
Dr. McBride served his country as a Commissioned Officer in the U. S. Navy during World War II. He was stationed on Guam Island as the Head of the 103rd Naval Hospital. His wife Opal joined him there as a Red Cross Nurse. After receiving his Honorable Discharge, Dr. McBride entered private practice and was instrumental in establishing mental health centers in Natchitoches and Alexandria.
He also served as Head of the Department of Psychiatry and served as a Staff Psychiatrist at the VAMC for 20 years before retiring on April 19, 2011 at the age of 90. Some of his greatest pleasure was derived from supervising medical students at LSU School of Medicine in Shreveport. During his tenure he was a Charter Member of the Medical Staff of Brentwood Hospital as well as the Confederate Memorial Hospital, Willis-Knighton Hospital, and Schumpert Hospital. Dr. McBride was also very active in Shreveport Medical Society, Southern Medical Association, Louisiana Psychiatric Association, and the American Psychiatric Association.
Dr. McBride was preceded in death by his parents, Irma and William Andrew McBride, Sr. and by his sister, Idell Scott. He is survived by his loving wife of 68 years, Opal Fussell McBride, and his two children, Dr. William McBride, III and his wife, Bonny Wilbanks McBride, and Patti McBride Williams and her spouse, Randy Waldon. His extended family includes three grandchildren, Melissa Collins, Nicole Gross, and William Hunter McBride. He also had four great-grandchildren, three nieces and one nephew, Dr. Norman Ott.