Robert Ray McGee was born to Laura Dennis McGee and Robert Lafayette McGee in Louann, Ark. on Oct. 10, 1924. He died on Jan. 7, 2021. After graduation from high school at age 15 he attended Arkansas A and M College at Magnolia and Louisiana Tech. He graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Medicine receiving the Doctor of Medicine degree in 1946. While in medical school he was a member of the Army Specialized Training Program. After an internship at the Cincinnati General Hospital he served as a Medical Officer in the Army Medical Corps and the Air Force. He practiced General Medicine in Clarksdale from 1949 to 1956. He served a Residency in Internal Medicine in the City of Memphis and UT Hospitals from 1956 to 1958. He returned to Clarksdale to practice internal medicine for thirty five years. From 1994 to 2015 he worked as staff physician at the Region One Mental Health Center. He was a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine and a member of Alpha Omega Alpha Honorary Medical Society. He was a member of the American Medical Association, the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology and various other professional organizations. He served as president of the medical staff of the Coahoma County Hospital for five years. He served a term as President of the Clarksdale and Six Counties Medical Society.
He was active in civic and community affairs, serving 3 years on the board of directors of the Coahoma County Chamber of Commerce and had been a member of the Exchange Club and the Rotary Club. He was a member of the American Legion.
Hobbies included hunting and fishing, painting and photography, golf and tennis, playing the latter until he was well into his eighties. He was a licensed private airplane pilot. He was a lifelong writer of book reviews, essays, op-ed pieces, scientific papers and articles on medical related subjects published in various newspapers, magazines and journals. He was a contributing editor to Medical Economics, a national publication. He served a term on the Publication Committee of the Mississippi State Medical Assocation. He wrote a private memoir about his family background and life for his children. He published two books of poetry written over a 70 years period, “Case Reports and Other Epiphanies” (2005) and “Credo for Now and Other Poems” (2017), both under the penname, Thomas Browne, MD. He was a charter member of the Higher Mathematics and Art Appreciation Study Club.
He was a communicant of St. George’s Episcopal Church and served several times on the Vestry.
His first wife Laura Lorene McCaleb to whom he was married in 1953 died in 1976. He died peacefully at home and is survived by his wife of 41 years, Louise Nelson McGee, four children, Amanda Robbins, Meg Metcalf, Mollie Vincent (Chuck), Bob McGee (Laura), five stepchildren, Pat Peay (Chanda), Mike Peay, Jack Peay (Mary Jo), Jim Peay (Logan), Rebecca Etheridge (Clark), eighteen grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.
There will be a private family memorial service held at St. George’s Episcopal Church. Memorials may be made to St. George's Episcopal Church, 106 Sharkey Avenue, Clarksdale, MS 38614 or Fairland Treatment Center, 3000 Highway 49 South, Tutwiler, MS 38963. Meredith-Nowell Funeral Home in Clarksdale, MS is in charge of arrangements.
