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Tribute
Provided by Mary Jeter Sullivan
For
43 years, Dr. Robert McKenzie Jeter practiced medicine and served the
people of Gleason, TN and the surrounding area as their doctor and friend.
He was a devoted doctor, working many hours a week and always striving to
do his best. For many years, he made house calls; he was a true "country
doctor."
He was born in
Bradford, TN on Jun. 29, 1906 to Wynona Bandy Jeter and Dr. Joshua Edgar
Jeter. While Robert was still a young child, the family moved to Gleason.
Another son, Jack Ward Jeter, was born to Dr. and Mrs. Jeter on Oct. 21,
191 1. The boys' paternal grandparents were Mary Ward Jeter and George
Samuel Jeter. Their maternal grandparents were Ellen Whitworth Bandy and
Robert Wilson Bandy.
Robert graduated from
Mcllyeire Prep School in McKenzie, TN in 1925. He graduated from pharmacy
school and, for several years, worked at the City Drug Store. He was
always interested in sports and as a volunteer coached baseball and
assisted the football coach at Gleason High School in the late 1920s.
On Jun. 23, 1927 in a
beautiful garden wedding, Robert married Frances Imogene Cooper, the
daughter of Eudora Hall Cooper and Thomas Garner Cooper. Imogene was born
Jun. 19, 1909 in Hollow Rock, TN. Her brother, Thomas Gordon Cooper, was
born Dec. 12, 1912.
Robert graduated magna
cum laude from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN in 1934. After
graduating from the Vanderbilt Medical School in 1937, he interned at
Vanderbilt and St. Thomas Hospitals in Nashville and at Bellevue Hospital
in New York City.
While Robert was in
school in Nashville, Imogene worked in the office of Dr. Billy Vaughn, a
pediatrician. This experience prepared Imogene for the future, helping her
husband in his medical practice in Gleason.
Robert's medical office
was located on the first floor of the R.W. Bandy home in Gleason. Robert
and Imogene lived on the second floor. Following the untimely death of her
husband, Robert's mother Wynona (affectionately called Nannie) moved into
the house to manage the daily activities of the home while Robert and
Imogene ministered to the community.
Robert and Imogene had
one daughter, Mary Ellen Jeter (b. Jan. 26, 1942) who married Aug. 4, 1962
to William Shaylor Sullivan, the son of Louise Dewson Sullivan and Walter
Eugene Sullivan of Nashville, TN. Mary Ellen and William had two
daughters, Amy Elizabeth Sullivan (b. Jan. 29, 1966) and Laura Ellen Sullivan (b. Jan. 5,
1971). Laura married Christopher Allen Garner Aug. 13, 1994, in Austin,
TX. They had one daughter, Lindsay Nicol Garner, Born July 26, 1999.
Dr. Jeter served his
community by being the athletic doctor for the Gleason School. The Dr.
Jeter Award, given to the most deserving Gleason High School football
player was named in his honor. He devoted much of his time to the board of
directors of the Bank of Gleason where he served as chairman of the board
for many years. He was a charter member of Gleason Rotary Club; held a
rating of first lieutenant in the State Guard; and was a captain in the
National Guard. Robert and Imogene were members of the First United
Methodist Church in Gleason.
After many years of practicing medicine as
the only doctor in Gleason, Robert retired in 1982. Shortly after he died
on Mar. 1, 1990, Imogene moved to Austin, TX to be near her daughter.
Submitted by Mary Jeter Sullivan
Source:
Weakley County ,
Tennessee 175th Anniversary History & Families 1823 -1998, Ed. Weakley
County Genealogical Society, Paducah, Kentucky: Turner Publishing Company,
1999 - Reprinted by permission.
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