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Tribute Provided by Mary Jeter Sullivan
For 43 years, Dr. Robert McKenzie Jeter practiced medicine and served the people of Gleason, TN and the surrounding area as their doctor and friend. He was a devoted doctor, working many hours a week and always striving to do his best. For many years, he made house calls; he was a true "country doctor."
He was born in Bradford, TN on Jun. 29, 1906 to Wynona Bandy Jeter and Dr. Joshua Edgar Jeter. While Robert was still a young child, the family moved to Gleason. Another son, Jack Ward Jeter, was born to Dr. and Mrs. Jeter on Oct. 21, 191 1. The boys' paternal grandparents were Mary Ward Jeter and George Samuel Jeter. Their maternal grandparents were Ellen Whitworth Bandy and Robert Wilson Bandy.
Robert graduated from Mcllyeire Prep School in McKenzie, TN in 1925. He graduated from pharmacy school and, for several years, worked at the City Drug Store. He was always interested in sports and as a volunteer coached baseball and assisted the football coach at Gleason High School in the late 1920s.
On Jun. 23, 1927 in a beautiful garden wedding, Robert married Frances Imogene Cooper, the daughter of Eudora Hall Cooper and Thomas Garner Cooper. Imogene was born Jun. 19, 1909 in Hollow Rock, TN. Her brother, Thomas Gordon Cooper, was born Dec. 12, 1912.
Robert graduated magna cum laude from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN in 1934. After graduating from the Vanderbilt Medical School in 1937, he interned at Vanderbilt and St. Thomas Hospitals in Nashville and at Bellevue Hospital in New York City.
While Robert was in school in Nashville, Imogene worked in the office of Dr. Billy Vaughn, a pediatrician. This experience prepared Imogene for the future, helping her husband in his medical practice in Gleason.
Robert's medical office was located on the first floor of the R.W. Bandy home in Gleason. Robert and Imogene lived on the second floor. Following the untimely death of her husband, Robert's mother Wynona (affectionately called Nannie) moved into the house to manage the daily activities of the home while Robert and Imogene ministered to the community.
Robert and Imogene had one daughter, Mary Ellen Jeter (b. Jan. 26, 1942) who married Aug. 4, 1962 to William Shaylor Sullivan, the son of Louise Dewson Sullivan and Walter Eugene Sullivan of Nashville, TN. Mary Ellen and William had two daughters, Amy Elizabeth Sullivan (b. Jan. 29, 1966) and Laura Ellen Sullivan (b. Jan. 5, 1971). Laura married Christopher Allen Garner Aug. 13, 1994, in Austin, TX. They had one daughter, Lindsay Nicol Garner, Born July 26, 1999.
Dr. Jeter served his community by being the athletic doctor for the Gleason School. The Dr. Jeter Award, given to the most deserving Gleason High School football player was named in his honor. He devoted much of his time to the board of directors of the Bank of Gleason where he served as chairman of the board for many years. He was a charter member of Gleason Rotary Club; held a rating of first lieutenant in the State Guard; and was a captain in the National Guard. Robert and Imogene were members of the First United Methodist Church in Gleason.
After many years of practicing medicine as the only doctor in Gleason, Robert retired in 1982. Shortly after he died on Mar. 1, 1990, Imogene moved to Austin, TX to be near her daughter. Submitted by Mary Jeter Sullivan
Source: Weakley County , Tennessee 175th Anniversary History & Families 1823 -1998, Ed. Weakley County Genealogical Society, Paducah, Kentucky: Turner Publishing Company, 1999 - Reprinted by permission.
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