IN REMEMBRANCE
in places that even in our wildest imagination, when you see how
things turned out for them, we can only explain as the hand of God.
For instance, somehow you end up in a time and place that exactly
matches where you had to be to meet someone. Coincidence? Or
is this the hand of God?
I was blessed to know Bob for 35 years and I am fortunate to be
one example of his spiritual legacy. Many years of my career and
life, I had no faith. Bob did not judge me but encouraged me and
loved me.
When the scales were removed from my eyes, and I had my
“Job 38” moment where I was asking God, “Where are you in the
many disasters I saw in the ER?” God answered, “Where were you
when I gave you the gift of medicine, and you never used it to show
compassion in my name?”
In retrospect, God provided many divine appointments as I
Or the way he would make special time for their birthdays
and celebrate the day the Lord blessed Wilma and Bob with their
beautiful daughters. Even if he couldn’t make a birthday dinner, he
made sure to arrange a birthday breakfast, complete with a breakfast
birthday cake.
Wow, the love of family.
But there was a side to Bob that I loved, that many of you know,
and that was his crazy sense of humor and his wild socks. Make
no mistake, Bob and I had many tense moments in the ER where
we shared tears together and celebrated the joy of saving a life. I
always looked forward to his dry sense of humor; no matter how
wild things got, he would always look over, and under his breath say
something that would make me laugh. I will miss that so.
Bob’s compassion did not end when he finished in the ER; we
also worked together in the mission field. Bob was on the board
encountered patients with strong Christian faith and also the op-
portunity to work with Bob. Those times when God, in His perfect
timing, would have Bob mentor me and show me not only in words,
but by the way he treated people, to understand the power of kind-
ness. Bob always recognized the power of kindness, and in 35 years,
I never saw Bob raise his voice or lose his composure, even in the
most stressful situations. of Teach to Transform, where we served together in the hardest
places in the world.
Why did we love Bob so much? What was it about Bob that
touched so many? Some people refer to the big picture as God’s upper story and
the individual puzzle pieces of our life as the lower story – the day-
to-day stuff. He saw all the pictures, all the time.
We loved his energy; his professional accomplishments alone
could have been those of five people at least. A champion for health
care, he was a founder of Southern Emergency Medical Specialists,
the Medical Director at Norton Audubon Hospital, and a respected
leader in the medical community. He worked with the KMA on the
Kentucky Political Action Committee. He was an advocate for the
AMA and a national speaker for the opioid crisis and on medical
economics. As president of the Greater Louisville Medical Society,
and president-elect of the KMA, he made many trips to Frankfort
and Washington to intercede for patients and physicians. He also
received a Master’s in Business at Auburn University and was even
a balloon pilot, for goodness sake.
We all admired his humility as he always deflected praise by
empowering and encouraging others. More importantly, his iden-
tity was not in his job; his identity was first in Christ, second as a
wonderful loving husband and father, and lastly, a doctor.
I asked Wilma (his wife) and Mary Claire and Julia (his daugh-
ters), to tell me of the special times when they felt the divine love
they cherished. They felt his love when, after coming home from a
late-night shift, tired and exhausted, they would leave their home-
work on the kitchen table so their dad could look it over and leave
sticky notes as he reviewed their homework. How sweet is that?
You may have seen pictures of a day when we held graduation in
the Amazon jungle. There was Bob in 100 degree weather, wearing
a cap and gown they had made for him that was about five sizes
too small. He was handing out certificates to students who were
hugging him, so proud of their accomplishments.
When I think of Bob, I think of the scripture written in John
13:34. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have
loved you, so you must love one another. By this, everyone will
know you are my disciples if you love one another.”
Who was Bob Couch?
His love and compassion made us ask, “Why do you treat me
the way you do when others ignore me? Why are you kind to me,
when you don’t have to be?”
Yes, God has blessed us through Bob with a glimpse of Heaven.
I will miss him. My heart is breaking for Wilma, Julia and Mary
Claire but not for Bob, for he is in paradise today. We prayed for
Bob to be healed, and that answer was not what we envisioned. God
healed him by taking him home to the Kingdom of Heaven. I am a
little jealous of God today and wonder: would it be too much to let us
have Bob back, and would Bob even come back if he had a choice? I
suspect not; with his sweet smile and laugh, he would probably say,
“I’ll be here to greet you when Christ calls you all home.”
Make no mistake. This emotional pain is so all-consuming that
it is beyond words, but Christ understands. He saw and felt the pain
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JANUARY 2020
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