Joseph Emery Montie
Joseph Emery Montie, a former MU associate professor of surgery, was known for his compassionate nature and passion for adventure.
“He was the heart of his practice,” said Maureen Brown, a nurse practitioner who worked with him at Boone Clinic. “There was nothing he wouldn’t do for his staff.”
Dr. Montie died at Boone Hospital Center on Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2010. He was 70.
He was born on Sept. 23, 1940, in Detroit to Beatrice and Raymond Montie.
He married Kathleen Joynt on July 11, 1964, and she died earlier.
Dr. Montie attended medical school at Wayne State University in Michigan and graduated with honors. After post-graduate training in urology, he joined the MU faculty.
He later entered private practice with the physicians at Boone Clinic and remained active in urology until 2003.
Brown said that he took wonderful care of his patients and got to know them and their families. “His patients loved him,” she said.
He was included in an entry in “Who’s Who in America,” which contains biographies of noteworthy people.
“He was truly a man with a big personality,” Brown said. “He always had an upbeat conversation.”
A man known to be adventurous, Dr. Montie went hunting in the Andes, fishing in the Amazon, deep-sea fishing in Grenada and elsewhere, rafting on the Rio Grande and scuba diving in Belize.
“He had a very serious side also,” Brown said.
He served as a medical officer with the U.S. Air Force in Germany. He and a surgical colleague pioneered new advances in transsexual surgery, which gained wide recognition.
He is survived by his wife, Betty Gebhardt; a sister, Kay Montie McGlynn of Ann Arbor, Mich.; a brother, James E. Montie of Ann Arbor; two sons, Chris and Matt of Ann Arbor; a daughter, Paula Montie of Ann Arbor; a stepson, Chris Gebhardt of Columbia; eight grandchildren, Emily, Emory, Madeline, Makenzie, Alec, Zachary, Gabriel and Macy Rose; and four stepgrandchildren, Maddie, Bella, Luca and Willa.
In addition to his first wife, a stepdaughter, Melissa, died earlier.
Visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Memorial Funeral Home, 1217 Business Loop 70 W. A memorial Mass will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, 903 Bernadette Drive.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Central Missouri Food Bank and the American Heart Association. Tributes may be posted online at memorialfuneralhomeandcemetery.com.
