James Douglas Spitler

James Douglas Spitler, 95, departed this life on February 24, 2026. He was born on May 28, 1930, in Dallas, Texas, to the union of Marion and Willie “Billie” Spitler. James “Jim” married Betty Jo White of Alpine, Texas on February 18, 1961, in Dallas, Texas, a marriage which lasted for 21 years. During their marriage they raised two children, Betty’s son, Brandley Hugh Brahm and their beautiful daughter, Amy Marie Driscoll.
Jim’s career extended over 47 years during which time he was the Assistant Administrator of Brewster County Memorial Hospital in Alpine, Texas following which he spent the last 27 years at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Texas (UTMB). While at UTMB, he served as co-founder of the University of Texas School of Allied Health Sciences at the Medical Branch, the first such school in the UT System. Later he moved into the position of Associate Dean of the school. The school more recently was renamed The University of Texas Medical Branch School of Health Professions at Galveston, where over 10,000 graduate level students have graduated. While actively engaged in his academic positions at UTMB, Jim pursued and obtained a Ph.D. degree in Academic Administration. Upon his retirement from UTMB, he branched out from Texas and built a retirement/vacation home in Pueblo West, Colorado, which he shared with Dr. David Cordova, Professor Emeritus at UTMB. At that time he and Dr. Cordova began extensive national and world travel which included all fifty states, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Brazil, Equador and the Galapagos Islands.