Dr. William Howard Robertson

ROBERTSON, DR. WILLIAM HOWARD, died at 12:25 a.m. on September 1, 2003 - Labor Day, an irony that did not escape his family and friends. Dr. Robertson practiced OBGYN at St. Vincent's Hospital for 37 years until his retirement in 1990. His patients remember him as a kind and skilled physician and his family and friends remember him as a loving father and a faithful friend. Dr. Robertson died peacefully at home, his wife and children with him. Billy, as he was known by friends and family, was born on July 1, 1921 in Nashville Tennessee, the only child of William Perry Robertson and Mary Henderson Robertson. During the Great Depression, the Robertsons moved to Birmingham, where they had family and opportunity. During his youth, Billy discovered a lifelong love of literature. While recovering from a serious and prolonged case of scarlet fever, his mother Mary read him aloud the works of Dickens and Shakespeare. Billy remained a voracious reader throughout his life. Billy attended Ramsey High School in Birmingham, but when his parents became convinced that he was more interested in girls than his studies, Billy was shipped off to an all boy's school, Battle Ground Academy, in Franklin, Tennessee, where he graduated with honors in 1939. Upon returning to Birmingham, Billy attended Birmingham Southern College, where he met his wife-to-be, Jennie May Webb. The couple was married on August 29, 1942 and the following year Billy enlisted in the United States Army, where he served during World War II in Okinawa. Jennie and Billy celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary two days before Billy's death. After the war, the Robertsons came home to Alabama and Billy attended the University of Alabama, where he received both his Bachelor of Science Degree and his Degree in Medicine. Over the years, Dr. and Mrs. Robertson built an extraordinary, accepting home, hosting foreign students from around the globe. The Robertsons served as unofficial diplomats for Birmingham through difficult times and to this day maintain contact with many of the foreign students they hosted. Dr. Robertson was a member of the American Fertility Society, the American Board of OBGYN, the American College of OBGYN, the New York Academy of Sciences, and the American College of Surgeons, and was a cofounder of SCOGS. He also served as President of the Alabama Arts Hall of Fame. The Robertsons are longtime members of the Cathedral Church of the Advent. Dr. Robertson was also a Kentucky Colonel and a member of the Saint Andrews Society. Dr. Robertson lectured extensively, around the world during the latter part of his career and was the author of many scholarly articles, mono-graphs, and books, including An Illustrated History of Contraception. Billy is survived by Jennie, his beloved wife of 61 years; his children, Melissa Turnage, Jennifer Given, and Webb Robertson; his grandchildren, Winston White, Juliet Hemingway, Melissa Given, Will Robertson, Jennifer Turnage, Cally Robertson, Allie Turnage and Christian Given; and his great grandchildren, William and Theodore White. Dr. Robertson lost his grandson, Adam White, on September 11, 2001. The family is comforted by the certainty that Adam is there to ease Dr. Robertson's transition. A Memorial Service will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, September 3, 2003 at the Cathedral Church of the Advent. The family will receive friends and family after the service in Clingman's Commons. In lieu of flowers, please send memorials to Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB, Altamont School, The Cathedral Church of the Advent, or New Beacon Hospice. "Death is a commingling of eternity with time; in the death of a good man, eternity is seen looking through time." -Goethe