Dr. Paris Bransford

Dr. Paris Bransford of Houston, Texas, passed away peacefully on June 9, 2025, at the age of 95. He was born on New Year’s Day, 1930 in Pond Beat (Madison County), Alabama to Newman Bransford and Liza Bransford (née Liza Lynch). Growing up in the segregated south, he attended a two-room schoolhouse for colored children. Inspired by the black doctor in his community – a man whom everyone knew and loved — Paris Bransford chose medicine for his own career. After high school, he joined the U.S. Air Force to complete his military service.

Following an honorable discharge, Dr. Bransford attended Tennessee State University in Nashville, graduating in 1956. Before entering Meharry Medical College in 1960, he worked on the U.S. Army’s Jupiter missile project; he then married his wife, Gladys Toney, in 1959. By the time he graduated medical school in 1963, Dr. Bransford and his wife, Gladys, had three children, Paris Patrick (1961 – Nashville Tennessee), Toni Lynne (1962 – Nashville, Tennessee) and Traci Leigh (1963 – Winston Salem, North Carolina). In Winston Salem, he completed his surgical residency at Kate Bitting Reynolds Memorial Hospital, known as “Katie B”, the hospital for colored people.

After practicing for several years in Fayetteville, Tennessee, as the sole black doctor in town, Dr. Bransford relocated in 1971 to Houston at the insistence of his dear friend and fellow Meharry graduate, Dr. Emory Mazique. Dr. Bransford started a surgical and family medicine practice in third ward, on Almeda Street. He was chief of staff at Riverside Hospital, chief of staff at Northwest General Hospital, and had privileges at multiple Houston hospitals, including St. Elizabeth’s Hospital and Park Place Hospital, to name a few. Dr. Bransford was part owner of the first medical building in the nation owned and operated by black doctors. He eventually moved his practice to Pasadena, naming it Strawberry Family Medical Clinic before retiring in 2003.

Dr. Bransford was an active member of the Houston Medical Forum, Nu Boule of Sigma Pi Phi, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and a 33rd Mason of the Scottish Rite sect. He was President of the Houston Medical Forum and Chairman of the Board of the National Medical Association, a national organization of African American physicians.

Dr. Bransford’s love of and dedication to the community was highlighted by a lifetime of free check-ups for Pop Warner Football League players and immunizations for children in need at the start of school for the Houston Independent School District. An avid boxing enthusiast, Dr. Bransford was the ringside physician for all boxing matches in Houston, mentoring many young men as part of his work with the local boxing circuit. Of note, he was the ringside physician for many Larry Holmes, Leon Spinks, and George Foreman fights. He was known as “Dr. B” to the community he loved so much.

Dr. Bransford is survived by his wife of 66 years, the Honorable Judge Gladys T. Bransford, their oldest child, son Dr. Paris Patrick (Angela), a Beaumont, Texas cardiologist and electrophysiologist, their middle child, daughter Dr. Toni Lynne (Kevin), a Rockville, Maryland cardiologist, and their youngest child, daughter Atty Traci Leigh (Michael), a Houston, Texas attorney. Dr. Bransford is also survived by six grandchildren from oldest to youngest: Atty Preston Marquis; Melanie Bransford Ayala (Jesus), Prentiss Marquis-Ortega (Ivan), Melissa Bransford, Meredith Bransford and Kaitlyn Bedford. In addition to his six grandchildren, Dr. Bransford is survived by his three great grandchildren, Paris, William and Marc Ayala.

Also left to cherish his memory are his older sister, Cassie Bransford Gardner from Madison County, Alabama, her five children, his cousins, Odysseus Lanier (Tammi) from Houston, Texas and Andrea Weston (Felix) also from Houston, Texas; and his caregiver, Mrs. Betty Sam. He is preceded in death by his older brother, Francis Bransford, and parents Newman and Liza Bransford.

A funeral service for Dr. Bransford will be held at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, June 21, 2025, at Broussard’s, 2000 McFaddin Avenue, Beaumont, with his interment to follow at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Beaumont. A memorial service for Dr. Bransford will be held at 11:00 a.m., Monday, June 23, 2025, at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, 3826 Wheeler Avenue, Houston. For those unable to attend in-person, a livestream of the service can be accessed on Wheeler Ave Baptist Church’s website (https://wheelerbc.org/live-streaming) at the start of the service.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions for Dr. Bransford may be made to Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, 3826 Wheeler Avenue, Houston, Texas 77004.

**A link to the video of an interview by the University of Houston is also included here. Bransford, Paris – University of Houston Libraries Audio/Video Repository.