Former orthopedic surgeon with Saint Joseph Orthopaedic Associates in Bryan, Texas, James “Jim” Board Giles, M.D., passed away on January 11, 2023, at the age of 71. He will be remembered as a loving man whose family referred to him simply as “Doc”.
Giles received his medical degree at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, in 1978, and then completed an orthopedic surgery residency at the University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio from 1978 to 1983. He also spent six months in 1983 in Edinburgh Scotland for a medical fellowship.
Dr. Giles returned to Bryan, Texas, in 1984, becoming one of the first large joint arthroplasty surgeons in Brazos County, Texas, home of Texas A&M University. He set up practice with Saint Joseph Orthopaedic Associates, St. Joseph Regional Hospital, and served the orthopedic needs of his community for 28 years.
Dr. Giles was born on December 12, 1951, in West Point, New York, to James B. Giles, Jr. and Mary Gene Catlett Giles. The family moved to Houston, Texas, where Jim Giles graduated from Lamar High School. Giles was captain of the basketball team and a cheerleader. He was awarded the “Gentleman of Lamar” award. It was in high school that he first felt the spark for medicine.
He graduated from the University of Texas in 1974. While there he was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and served as chapter president. He was also very active in intramural sports including the Phi Gamma Delta Intramural Football Championship team, volleyball, and basketball.
He met his wife Lisa Childers in San Antonio, and they raised three children together while in Bryan, Texas. When he was ready to retire in 2012, they moved to Marble Falls, Texas, where he spent a lot of time with his family on the lake. He as an avid boater, cyclist, scuba diver, hiker, fisherman and kayaker. He also loved to water and snow ski; he was also a triathlete.
Giles also loved to travel around the world with his family, capturing memories with his camera. He was a faithful Christian and became involved in medical mission work, both in Texas and overseas. He was a founding board member of Breakaway Ministries.
He is preceded in death by his parents, James B. Giles, Jr. and Mary Gene Catlett Giles, and nephew Brian Smith.
He is survived by his wife of 39 years Lisa Childers Giles and his three daughters and their families, Jordan Giles and husband Tommas Coldrick, Sarah Elizabeth Giles, and Blakeley Giles and husband Tanner Wilbanks. Jim adored his grandsons Bohan James Coldrick and Callan Alexander Coldrick.
Giles also leaves behind his sisters Susan Elizabeth Giles and Anne Giles Jarvis, her husband Tim, and their children Mary Catherine Jarvis and Elizabeth (Lizzy) Jarvis as well as his stepmother and her family and many cousins.
