Dr. Robert D. Roe

Service for Dr. Robert D. Roe, 84, of Cleburne will be conducted at 10:00 A.M., Thursday, July 7, 2016 at St. Joseph Catholic Church. Father Sergio Rizo will officiate. Burial will be in Greenacres Memorial Park. Pallbearers will be Greg Wills, Cleve Weyenberg, Jr., Eberhard Samlowski, Robert D. Roe, Jr., Alex Kidd, Jeff Jones, Elijah Samlowski, and Robert Ryan Roe. Honorary pallbearers will be Garrison Roe, Steven Jones, Sammy Kidd, Jr., Jessica Moore, Paul Wills, Danielle Wills, Jerry Kidd, and Elise Samlowski. Rosary will be from 5:30-6:00 P.M., Wednesday, at the funeral home with a visitation from 6:00-8:00 P.M., Wednesday, immediately following.
Dr. Robert D. Roe passed away Sunday, July 3, 2016 in Cleburne. He was born June 29, 1932 in Pittsfield, MA to Dr. John C. and Mary C. Esher Roe. He married Helen Marie Bertrand on Dec. 11, 1959 in Albany, NY.
Dr. Roe was a graduate of Pittsfield High School, Holy Cross College and New York Medical College. He completed his surgical internship at Albany Medical College and a year of surgical residency at the New York City Veterans Administration Hospital prior to entering the navy as a medical officer. He completed his surgical residency training at the U.S. Naval Hospital in San Diego, CA. He was the author of five published scientific papers and medical exhibits, one of which received first place at the scientific exhibit of the International College of Surgeons. While in the Navy, he was senior medical officer at the Naval Station Hospital, Midway Island, and chief surgeon at the Navy Hospital at Roosevelt Roads, P.R. He was also an instructor at the University of Puerto Rico School Of Medicine.
He served as commanding officer and chief surgeon at the Children’s Memorial Hospital of the 3rd Marine Division in Dong Ha, Vietnam. The hospital was a haven for sick and injured Vietnamese children from the Quang Tri Province as well as a treatment center for U.S. troops and their allies. He was awarded the Minister of Health Award by the government of South Vietnam. Dr. Roe spent several years on active duty in the military as a surgeon, including a tour as Commanding Officer of the Delta Medical Facility of the 3rd Marine Division in Dong Ha, Vietnam. For six years he was Chief of General Surgery at the V.A. Medical Center in Temple, where he also was a Professor of Surgery for the Texas A&M University School of Medicine. Dr. Roe opened his practice in Cleburne in 1982 until 2003. He then went to work for the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston as a prison physician, until his retirement in 2013.
Dr. Roe was a member of the American Medical Association, a diplomate of the American Board of Surgery, and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He was also a diplomate of the National Board of Medical Examiners.
Survivors include his beloved wife of 56 years, Helen Roe of Cleburne; four children, Nancy Kidd-Weyenberg and husband Cleve of Burleson, Carol Samlowski and husband Eberhard of Cleburne, Debora Wills and husband Greg of Temple, and Robert David Roe and wife Rebecca of Cleburne; 12 grandchildren, Steven Jones, Jr., Jeffrey Jones and wife Kayla, Jessica Moore, Paul Wills, Danielle Wills, Sammy Kidd, Jr. and wife Lauren, Jerry Kidd and wife Ashley, Alex Kidd, Elijah Samlowski, Elise Samlowski, Robert Ryan Roe, and Garrison Edward Roe; one great grandson, Matthew James Kidd; several nieces, nephews; and numerous other family members. He was preceded in death by his parents; and six siblings, John, Dorothy, James, Eleanor, Christine, and George.