MELVIN KINCHELOE BOTTORFF, M.D. 1935 - 2007

Dr. Melvin K. Bottorff, a physician and community health care advocate, passed away on November 2, 2007 after a courageous battle with Leiomyosarcoma, a rare soft tissue Cancer. He was 72.

Mel cared deeply about his patients and was the first to welcome over eight thousand new East Texas babies into the World as an OB/GYN physician. As Director of the Jasper Newton Public Health Department he helped expand community health care access for East Texas' indigent, rural, and elderly citizens; organized mass immunizations programs targeting thousands of schoolchildren; and came out of retirement in 2005 to volunteer his services to hundreds of Sam Rayburn Lake's Katrina evacuees in need of health care assistance.

Born in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1935, he is the son of the late Dr. Melvin K. Bottorff, Sr. and Elizabeth (Jim) Bottorff of Lake Village, Arkansas. His grandfather Dr. E.P. McGehee founded the Lake Village Clinic in 1912, the first health care facility in the Mississippi Delta region and Arkansas' first air conditioned hospital. His father Dr. Melvin Bottorff, Sr. also practiced at the Clinic and was Chief Physician for the Civilian Conservation Corps. in Arkansas.

Mel is preceded in death by his parents and sister Betty Sue Schwartz of New York City. He is survived by his loving wife JoAnne Bottorff of Sam Rayburn, Texas; son Brian Bottorff of Houston; daughter Beth Walker and her husband Paul, grandchildren Shea Pielsticker, Peyton Pielsticker, Lance Bottorff Langel, Jordan Walker, and Jack Walker; all of Tulsa, and sister Madelyn Warrick of McGehee, Arkansas.

Mel graduated from Lakeside High School in Lake Village in 1953 and attended Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas between 1953 - 1956 as a Pre-Med student; he worked summers exploring his love for nature with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. He attended the University of Arkansas Medical School at Little Rock between 1956 and 1960 with Externships at hospitals in Memphis and Little Rock and a Preceptorship in Camden, Arkansas. After medical school graduation his rotating internship was at Confederate Memorial Hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana where he met and married his wife JoAnne.

He served as Captain in the United States Air Force and Chief Medical Officer stationed at Seymour - Johnson A.F.B. in Goldsboro, North Carolina between 1961-1963. He was in General Practice in Martin, Tennessee between 1963- 1967 where he served as President of the Weakley County Medical Society, before moving to Memphis to specialize in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

In 1970 the Bottorff's moved to Beaumont, Texas where he founded The Women's Clinic and Associates with Dr. George Bosch and the late Dr. Jeff Hanna. In 1971 he was elected a Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He served as Chief of OB/GYN and Chief of Staff at both St. Elizabeth and Baptist Hospitals in Beaumont, and as President of the Jefferson County Medical Society in 1990.

Between 1993 and 2000 he was Chief of Staff and Chief of Surgery at Jasper Memorial Hospital in Jasper, Texas; and was Director of the Jasper - Newton County Public Health District from 1993 until his retirement in 2001. He helped with the building of the Rayburn Clinic at Sam Rayburn Lake and served on its' Board, served as Director and Vice President of Rayburn Country Association, and was a member at Lake Rayburn United Methodist Church where he founded the Methodist Men's Helping Hands Group.

Mel was an expert on the civil war history and genealogy. Throughout his life he was a true naturalist with great passion for the outdoors. He loved diving, wildlife, forestry, photography, and the areas waterways. He canoed Village Creek from end to end, sailed in numerous races throughout the Americas with the "Bar Nuthin" crew and on the Tall Ship Elissa; taught boating education courses and was a past Commander of the Beaumont Power Squadron.

The Bottorff family would like to express their appreciation and gratitude to the physicians, nurses, and staff of Texas Oncology in Beaumont; Sarah Canon Cancer Center and Hope Lodge in Nashville; Christus Jasper, The Lakes Area Hospice, and Dr.'s Ed Collins, Carey Jordan, Mark Larson, and Bud Gilliland. Your amazing support, dedication to patient care, and compassion is greatly appreciated.

A Celebration of Life and Memorial service was held November 6 at Lake Rayburn United Methodist Church. Internment will be held today, Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. at Lake Village Arkansas City Cemetery, McMurray Family Section.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Lakes Area Hospice, PO Box 2086, Jasper, TX 75951; Lake Rayburn UMC, PO Box 5014, Sam Rayburn, TX 75951- 7700; or the Dr. Melvin Kincheloe Bottorff Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund at Hendrix College. Established in 2006 by Brian Bottorff and Beth Walker to honor the life and career of their father, the annual endowed Scholarship recognizes an outstanding student entering Hendrix College each year expressing interest in careers in health care. Minority applicants and/or those with financial needs are encouraged to apply. [Melvin K. Bottorff Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o Hendrix College, Office of Advancement, 1600 Washington, Conway, AR 72032-3080]

For additional information or to post a condolence online go to http://melvinbottorff. com.