SYLACAUGA, Ala. – Friends, colleagues, and community members gathered Wednesday, Aug. 13, at the B.B. Comer Memorial Library to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Robert Morris Gray, a beloved pediatrician who served Sylacauga for more than 50 years.
The memorial event included the unveiling of a bench dedicated in Dr. Gray’s honor. Library Director Tracey Thomas offered the welcome and opening remarks, followed by Amy Price, chairman of the B.B. Comer Memorial Library Board and Chief Operating Officer of Coosa Valley Medical Center.
A video of Dr. Gray reading his favorite poem, “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” by William Butler Yeats, was shown to attendees. Close friends Lauren Eszes and Dr. Martha Strange shared personal memories, while Dr. Rekha Chadalawada, Pediatrician at Sylacauga Pediatrics and Dr. Gray’s former partner in medicine, delivered the final remarks before the bench was unveiled.
Dr. Gray died peacefully at his home Sept. 18, 2024, at age 92. Born and raised in Birmingham’s Central Park neighborhood, he attended West End High School, Birmingham-Southern College, and the University of Alabama School of Medicine.
Throughout his decades-long career, he was recognized as a “Master Pediatrician” by Children’s Hospital of Alabama, named an “Alabama Health Care Hero” by the Alabama Hospital Association, and received multiple “Master Preceptor” awards for mentoring young pediatricians.
Outside of medicine, Dr. Gray’s passions ranged from fishing, golf, and sailing to painting watercolors, playing multiple instruments, cooking, and crafting beer and wine. He was instrumental in founding the Sylacauga Country Club nearly 60 years ago.
Those who knew him said his greatest legacy was his love for his patients, family, and community. His devotion to Sylacauga is now memorialized at the library’s grounds.
