PEOPLE + EVENTS
OBITUARies
LITTLE ROCK - Arlee Ervin Pollard , MD , passed away February 12 , 2020 . Raised on the family farm , Dr . Pollard ’ s early education began in a one-room schoolhouse and , from there , progressed to Oil Trough High School , where he graduated as valedictorian in 1946 . He attended Arkansas Tech University in Russellville , where he met his future wife , Helen Jane Cowan . After graduating from the University of Arkansas in 1950 with a bachelor of science degree , he received his medical degree from UAMS in 1956 and completed his residency in anesthesiology there in 1959 . Dr . Pollard was board certified in anesthesiology and was a past president of the Arkansas Society of Anesthesiologists . A dedicated and caring physician , he practiced for 35 years before retiring from St . Vincent Infirmary in 1994 . Dr . Pollard loved the practice of medicine and welcomed the opportunity to resume patient care by working part-time at the St . Vincent Community Free Clinic and the Federal Occupational Health Care Unit . He also worked with a group of other retired physicians for 20 years at the Military Entrance Processing Station in Little Rock , retiring from that position in 2018 . Dr . Pollard is survived by his children Dr . Bill ( Sharon ) Pollard , Barbara ( Steve ) Bonds , Joe Pollard of Little Rock , and Dr . Alan ( Liz ) Pollard ; and by three grandchildren .
ALMA - James David Busby , MD , passed away January 13 , 2021 . Dr . Busby began his medical career in Huntsville , Ark ., before moving to Fort Smith to work as an assistant professor for UAMS . He practiced medicine in multiple capacities while residing with his family in Alma , and always enjoyed meeting new patients and working alongside other medical professionals . In 2020 , Dr . Busby retired from Baptist Health in Fort Smith and from Van Buren as a physician advisor . He leaves behind his wife Joan ; daughters Debbie Alsip ( Chris ), Sara Herlevic ( Matt ), and Kathleen Shepard ( Greg ), all of northwest Arkansas ; and five grandchildren .
LITTLE ROCK - James Michael Shea , MD , passed away January 3 , 2021 . Dr . Shea graduated from the UAMS College of Medicine in 1984 , where he received the Winston Shorey Award for Outstanding Humanitarian Care . He practiced psychiatry for many years at the Little Rock Community Mental Health Center and , in later years , worked with the Veterans Administration , serving in many locales including El Paso , Texas ; Memphis , Tenn .; and Springfield , Mo .; and closer to home in Jonesboro and Fayetteville . In 1999 , Dr . Shea received an award as Arkansas Mental Health Practitioner of the Year .
POCAHONTAS - Hal Stephen Barre ’, MD , passed away December 30 , 2020 . Dr . Barre ’ was a family practice physician , and a member of St . Paul Catholic Church , where he served as a Fourth-Degree member of Knights of Columbus . He was a member of the Pocahontas Rotary Club , where he received the Paul Harris Fellow Service Award . He also received the 50-year Service Award from the Arkansas Medical Society . He is survived by his wife , Bootsie Leone Barre ’; daughter , Michelle Barre ’ Horton ; sons , Hal Stephen ( Zoraida ) Barre ’ Jr ., Christopher Alan ( Dawn ) Barre ’, and Joseph Detrick ( Denise ) Barre ’; and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren .
LITTLE ROCK - Samuel Brooks Caruthers Jr ., MD , passed away December 1 , 2020 . Dr . Caruthers was a Goldwater Republican . As a radiologist in public practice in Denver , Colo ., he railed against the bureaucracy of that system even while thriving as a highly regarded practitioner and teacher . Finally , he accepted a position in the private sector by joining Radiology Consultants in Little Rock , where he continued to rail against the growing convolutions of the modern medical system . Dr . Caruthers was preceded in death by his wife , Helen , and his second son , John Kimbrough Caruthers . He leaves behind his son Samuel Brooks ( Stephanie ) Caruthers III , his daughter Virginia Leigh Caruthers ( Frank ), and his beloved grandchildren .
JONESBORO - James Mark Robinette , MD , 84 , passed away December 13 , 2020 . He is survived by his loving wife , Frances Wells Robinette ; children , Angela Lovett , MD , of Little Rock , Lauryl Hynes DVM ( Tim ) of Fayetteville , Georgia Robinette , JD ( Scott Murphy ) of Little Rock , Elaine Roger AOS Culinary Arts , RN , BSN ( Barney ), James Mark Robinette Jr ., JD , of Little Rock , Robert Robinette ( Ashley ) of Jonesboro , Sarah Robinette of Jonesboro , Paula Reeves of Jonesboro , Kimberly Stearn ( James ) of Doha , Qatar ; 15 grandchildren ; and one great-granddaughter .
Dr . Robinette graduated with highest honors from Arkansas High School at Texarkana . At Texarkana College , he was a Phi Theta Kappa . He attended Henderson College briefly before transferring to the University of Arkansas , College of Medicine . He was an Alpha Omega Alpha ; received the Avalon Foundation Scholarship , Mosby Book Club Award , and The Buchanan Key ; and graduated in the honors program . He received the Mead Johnson Fellowship while in residency at Flower Hospital in Toledo , Ohio . He started his medical practice in Newark , Ark ., and soon after , opened a clinic in Jonesboro . Shortly thereafter , he was drafted and served in Vietnam as a Captain in the USAF .
Dr . Robinette worked in private practice in Jonesboro from 1967 to present . He was a charter diplomat of the American Board of Family Practice . In 1977 , when taking his first family practice boards , he scored highest in the nation . In 1992 , he was board certified in geriatric medicine . Over the years he served as secretary of the Craighead / Poinsett County Medical Society ; chief of Medicine at St . Bernard ’ s ; and at Craighead Memorial Hospital , held the positions of chief of Surgery , Staff , and Family Practice . He has held memberships in the American and Arkansas Academy of Family Practice , the AMA , the Arkansas Medical Society , and the American Society of Addiction Medicine .
214 • The Journal of the Arkansas Medical Society www . ArkMed . org