Cumberland Today-Summer 01 - University of the Cumberlands

In Memory: Dr. Mack Roberts
Beloved Physician and Alumnus
Abeloved physician and
Cumberland alumnus, Dr.
Mack Roberts, of Monticello,
KY, passed away on
March 5, 2001, at the age of 97.
Dr. Roberts provided medical care
to patients throughout Kentucky’s
Wayne, Pulaski, Clinton, and McCreary
counties for 61 years, going to remote
hills and hollows to deliver babies, provide
vaccinations, and care for generations
of family members. When there
Dr. Mack Roberts
was no hospital at all in Wayne County, Dr. Roberts and his wife, Alma
Dolen Roberts, opened their home on Main Street in Monticello to the
sick and injured for treatment. They accepted patients at all hours of
the day and night, sometimes turning their home into a makeshift
emergency room. No patient was ever turned away.
Dr. Mack Roberts earned a degree from Cumberland College in
1926 and his medical degree in 1932 from the University of
Louisville College of Medicine. He came home to Wayne County to
serve as county health officer, where the job of the vaccinating children
against common diseases because a personal crusade. He opened
his private practice in Monticello in 1939.
He once told an interviewer that the most important medical
instrument he could imagine was his Jeep, which he used to make
house calls to patients across the region’s most remote areas. He
would take the Jeep as far as the road would take him, then sometimes
climb atop a mule or horse to travel the rest of the way.
Over the years, “Doc” Roberts delivered 4,250 babies — about 90
percent of them delivered in the patients’ home. For his work, he
charged what the patient could afford, and sometimes that meant no
payment at all.
His career has been fondly remembered in two books chronicling
his life. One book, entitled Doc, was written by his greatnephew,
the Rev. Howard W. Roberts, and published in 1987.
Another book, written by his wife, Alma, was recently published
under the title House Calls: Memoirs of Life with a Kentucky Doctor.
As recently as last fall “Doc” and Alma Roberts made public appearances
to sign the memoir.
Dr. Roberts retired from his practice on July 1, 1993, just before
his 90th birthday. Since that time he had served as a director of the
Monticello Banking Company.
Dr. Mack Roberts had frequently said that he was put on Earth
for a reason: to serve the Lord and to serve his fellow man. It was
a basic abiding principle that he carried with him throughout his
97 years. His selfless devotion to his community, his patients and
his family has left an indelible legacy for the people of Kentucky
and the nation.
In Memory: Doris Spafford
Dedicated Alumnae Touched Many Lives
Doris Jean Spafford passed
away on August 22,
2000, at her home in
Ocala, FL. A memorial
service was held on August 28, 2000 at
the First Congregational United
Church of Christ in Ocala.
Doris was a 1950 graduate of
Cumberland College and a 1952 graduate
of Carroll College in Waukesha,
WI, where she received a bachelor of Doris Spafford
science degree in math. Doris also
attended Eastern Kentucky University and the University of
Kentucky for further educational pursuits.
From 1953 until 1974 she taught school in Wisconsin and
Illinois. In 1974, Doris began a 20-year career with the Williamsburg
Independent School District (KY) where she taught math and other
subjects until her retirement in 1994.
Since her graduation from Cumberland, Doris was a very active
member of the Cumberland College Alumni Association having
served three separate, three-year terms as a member of the Alumni
Board of Directors. She was twice elected as president of the Alumni
Board and served three years for each term of office.
Whether serving as an active member of the Alumni Board or as
an interested alumnae, Doris was always actively providing her input
and resources to assist Cumberland College in meeting the needs of
students. She was instrumental in setting and helping to reach a
$50,000 goal for an Alumni Board of Director’s Endowed
Scholarship Fund. In addition, she was constantly challenging and
leading the other members of her graduating class to use their
resources to assist the college.
A memorial service for Doris was held during Homecoming in
October as the class of 1950 gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary
of their graduation from Cumberland. Many of her classmates
joined with co-workers from the Williamsburg Independent School
District and other Cumberland College friends to celebrate Doris’ life
and recognize her commitment to Cumberland College and the
many students and other individuals that her life has touched.
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