BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
They worked in different aspects of healthcare, but one was just as highly thought of as the other in this community.
Dr. Pete Gianas and Pharmacist Bobby Autry.
The community lost Gianas in July 2021. Now, it has lost Autry, who passed away on Oct. 22.
Autry, 75, served Bradford County and the surrounding area for 49 years in retail, hospital and nursing-home pharmacies. He was referred to as “the local pharmacist” in his obituary. That described more than simply where he worked. He truly cared about the people who lived in the local community.
Stephen Murphy, who’s married to Autry’s sister-in-law Audrey, said in a Feb. 11, 2021, Telegraph-Times-Monitor interview that Autry was eager to help anyone at any hour of the day and that he would make house calls to deliver people’s prescriptions.
“He’d do anything in the world for you,” Murphy said.
Debbie McCullough Hardin, who worked with Autry at Eckerd/CVS, shared a similar sentiment on a Facebook post, writing: “This man was one of a kind. He will be missed beyond measure! I cannot express what he meant to my family! He always helped us regardless of the time of day or night.”
Murphy said people had so much trust in Autry that they would follow him from one pharmacy to another.
In an Oct. 25, 2018, Telegraph-Times-Monitor story about Autry joining his son, Jim (also a pharmacist), at Keystone Heights’ North Florida Pharmacy, Autry said, “A lot of people have followed me over here. I understand that some cannot because of transportation, finances and other reasons, but what I’ve really been surprised by is the number of people that walk in whom I have dealt with in the past. Probably a third of the people that come in, I have known from past stops. I told one lady, ‘I haven’t seen you in 20 years. Now I’ve seen you three times in the past week.’”
Autry began working at North Florida Pharmacy in early 2018 after working at pharmacies (Mitchell’s, Eckerd/CVS, Madison Street Pharmacy) in Starke.
In a comment on a Bradford County Fire Rescue Facebook post about Autry’s death, Carol Smith wrote: “I don’t believe there is a person in Bradford County who hasn’t been touched by Bobby’s kindness and genuine concern for his patients. It didn’t matter whether they were financially well off or counting pennies to pay for a prescription. He always went above and beyond to meet the needs of his patients. He treated everyone with the same level of respect. He was such a good man. We were definitely blessed to have him call Bradford County home.”
Allen Parrish, the former director of Bradford County Fire Rescue, wrote the following on Facebook: “There are no words to adequately describe how much Bobby Autry impacted people for the better.”
House calls weren’t the only examples of Autry’s service beyond pharmacy walls. Part of Bradford County Fire Rescue’s Facebook post read: “What most may not realize is how hard Bobby worked behind the scenes to help carry our fire-rescue department through countless nationwide drug shortages. While many departments were having to go without certain medications for extended periods of time, we could count on Bobby to find a way to get us what we needed.”
One gets the sense that Autry, a 1966 Bradford High School graduate, could’ve gone into any career and still show love for those in his community. Commenting on Bradford County Fire Rescue’s Facebook post, Tammie Grassel wrote: “He was always the nicest, kindest soul with the best stories.”
On the tribute wall on Autry’s obituary on the Jones-Gallagher Funeral Home website, Kenna Wilkerson wrote: “He was an awesome friend, amazing pharmacist and just all-around great man. I loved it when I was young, going into Mitchell’s Drug Store to sit and have lunch and hear Bobby singing as he filled prescriptions. Bobby never met a stranger — always had a kind word and a smile.”
Darah Palmer, who worked under Autry at Madison Street Pharmacy, wrote on Facebook: “Bobby Autry made Bradford County a better place. He made the world a better place! He was the definition of pure and selfless.”
The Bradford County Fire Rescue Facebook post described Autry as “a true pillar of our community” and a person “who dedicated himself to the betterment of others.”
Bobby and Dr. Pete — two men who left large legacies in this community. They were tied together by their service, but they also enjoyed a personal relationship. Autry’s obituary stated that he was predeceased by Gianas, “his best friend of 39 years.”
Many in the community truly lost a friend as well in Autry.
“Your over-generous and kind heart will be missed,” Hardin wrote on Facebook. “So glad you are in God’s arms now, but so sad not to have you with us here in earth.”
Smith ended her comment on Bradford County Fire Rescue’s Facebook post by writing: “We will be forever grateful to have been blessed by Bobby Autry.”
