by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB
Roanoke Times Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: TUESDAY, January 26, 1993 TAG: 9301260458 SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO SOURCE: DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE LENGTH: Medium
OBIT CHITWOOD, DR. WALTER RANDOLPH
CHITWOOD, Dr. Walter Randolph, of Wytheville, died Sunday, January 24, 1993 at his home. He was the son of the late Dr. Edmund Madison Chitwood Sr., and Ethel Tipton Chitwood. He is survived by his wife, Ruth A. Reed Chitwood; two sons, Dr. Walter Randolph Chitwood Jr., Greenville, N.C.; William Edmund Chitwood, Charleston, S.C.; one daughter, Dr. Patty Chitwood Sprague, Newport, Va.; five grandchildren, W. Randolph Chitwood III, Greenville, N.C.; Anne Chitwood, UVA, Charlottesville, Va.; Emily, Sarah and Colin Sprague, Newport. Dr. Chitwood attended Wytheville High School. He was graduated from Hampden Sydney College with highest honors. He received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Virginia Medical School in 1944, where he served as president of the medical school and class president. He was a member of Alpha Omega Alpha, O.D.K., and the Raven Society. Following an internship, he entered the United States Army Medical Corps and served until the end of World War II, being discharged with the rank of captain. He returned to Wytheville to join his father in the family practice of medicine, and in 1948, they jointly established the Chitwood Memorial Clinic. A massive heart attack forced him to retire from practice in 1965. Upon his retirement, Dr. Chitwood pursued his life-long interest in photography, and in the history of Wythe County, and of medical practice in Southwest Virginia. He has authored a number of books, and together with Mary B. Kegley compiled three albums of old Wythe County photographs. He was researcher for the county history written by Mary B. Kegley for the Bicentennial. At the time of his death, he was writing a book on Confederate Army doctors. He was been actively involved in the Historical Societies of Wythe County, Southwest Virginia, and the American Association of the History of Medicine, and was appointed by the Wythe County Board of Supervisors to serve on the Bicentennial Commission. Dr. Chitwood has served on the Board of the Wythe County Public Library, and was a member of the Board of Directors and Advisory Board of Sovran Bank for 30 years. He was inducted as a life member of the American Academy of Family Physicians in 1990. He was also selected in 1990 by the Wythe-Bland Chamber of Commerce for the Citizen of the Year Award. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, January 27, 1993 in the Wytheville Presbyterian Church with interment to follow in the Tipton Cemetery in Hillsville. The family will receive friends between 7 and 9 p.m. Tuesday in the Hatcher Hall at the Wytheville Presbyterian Church. In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations be made to Wytheville Community College Educational Foundation - Historical Library Collection. Grubb Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.