The Way We Were: Dr. and Mrs. David Pirrung

David Pirrung and Margaret Tyler Pirrung are Virginia natives – him from Roanoke, her from a small town called Hopewell. It’s an area steeped in Civil War history.

“[Ulysses S.] Grant had his headquarters at Epps Manor, on a bluff over the James River. His troops lived out on the waterfront, and they were the food supply for the troops in Petersburg. They used to bake 10,000 loaves of bread a day and send it by the rail to Petersburg. When I was growing up, I used to play on what we called the “playground.” It was this huge field with a lot of bumpy hills at one end. We came to find out, several years later, that place was [the ruins of] Fort Abbott,” said Margaret Pirrung.

Margaret trained as a nurse at the University of Virginia (UVA). When she first went away to college, women could not go to UVA for their first two years, only their third. So, she had to go to a girls’ school, Mary Washington, before moving on to UVA. But then, it was in that UVA hospital cafeteria that fate introduced her to David Pirrung. They married June 6, 1959, after dating for a year.

Dr. Pirrung joined the Navy and the couple left Virginia for Florida. David Pirrung interned at Pensacola Naval Hospital, and then went to flight surgeon school.

“He was one of two flight surgeons deployed to the USS Enterprise. He was in charge of Air Group 6, and that’s where we met [Senator] John McCain. We were good friends,” said Margaret Pirrung.

During their time in the Navy, the Pirrungs had two children: a daughter, Tyler, and a son, David Jr., four years later. Navy wives – in the 1960s – were permitted to travel to the ports where their husbands were onboard ships. Margaret recalled when she met up with David’s ship in Cannes, where they had an apartment for three months.

 “I went home, to my family, so I could work to buy my plane ticket. I remember when I went to get my plane ticket, I thought, this is enough money to buy a washer and dryer!” she said. “The first day I went on the beach, I had on my one-piece demure black bathing suit, and I felt like I had a winter coat on. So, I went out and bought myself one of several bikinis.”

They explored the Mediterranean, taking road trips to Positano, St. Tropez and watching the Grand Prix in Monaco.

In 1964, the Pirrungs were relocated to the Naval Air Station Jacksonville, where Dr. Pirrung left the Navy to pursue a residency in family medicine at Duval Medical Center (now Shands Jacksonville). The family bought a house on Apache Avenue, where they lived for thirty years. Shortly thereafter, their third child, Jennifer, was born. Although Jennifer was the only member of the Pirrung family born in Jacksonville, the whole family still considers it home.

John McCain and his first wife, Carol, moved to Orange Park around the same time. The Pirrung family remained close to Carol and her three children when John McCain was taken prisoner in Vietnam in 1967, and when Carol was seriously injured in a car accident in 1969.

“Andy, their son, lived with us his senior year because he wanted to graduate from Episcopal,” Margaret Pirrung said. “He lives in Phoenix, but he still comes to see us every year.”

Dr. Pirrung was in private practice with Dr. David Gouch for nearly four decades, then was named the first medical director of St. Vincent’s Medical Center. The Pirrungs joined St. Marks Episcopal Church, and Margaret filled her time with volunteer work, including as a nurse with Planned Parenthood and the Channel 7 Auction.

“One of the items that was donated [for the auction] was a picture of Nancy Darby and I in a pair of underwear; she was in one leg and I was in the other!” she said.

Dr. Pirrung eventually retired and worked part-time at Baptist, while Margaret worked for Dr. N. H. Tucker. During the pandemic, they sold their home and left Jacksonville for two years.

“My daughter down in Winter Park just insisted that we come down there and live, but when we got down there, I missed my friends here. So, we moved back here in June,” said Margaret Pirrung.

The Pirrungs fill their time with friends, family and cheering for the Jaguars. Margaret is a big fan of our new mayor.

“I really like Donna Deegan, I think she’s doing a lot for the city,” she said. “I admire her an awful lot. She sticks to what she believes in.”

By Windy Taylor
Resident Community News