SOUTHPORT — Thad Wester, Lumberton’s first pediatrician and among the initial waves of doctors who helped establish what is today Southeastern Health, died Sunday in Southport.
Born on Christmas Day 1926, Thaddeus Bryan Wester, who had been in declining health, was 90 years old.
Wester came to Lumberton in 1954 and practiced medicine here for 30 years. In addition to being a physician, Wester was an outdoorsman, accomplished sailor, pilot, conservationist and a driving force behind the development of Bald Head Island into a resort community, where he was its first mayor, serving for two years.
Arthur “Gene” Douglas, a psychiatrist who practiced medicine in Lumberton for 32 years, called Wester his “mentor,” and followed him to live at Bald Head Island.
“When I moved to Lumberton in 1965 he was my senior by eight years and was my mentor,” said Douglas, who retired in 1997. “He helped me transition from military medicine to civilian medicine. He was always helpful and supportive, particularly with my efforts to establish mental health services in Lumberton and Robeson County.”
Wester, a native of Henderson, earned an undergraduate degree from Duke University in 1946 and his medical degree from Duke in 1950. A World War II veteran, he served two and a half years in the Navy, being discharged as a lieutenant.
He was recruited to Lumberton by Dr. D.E. Ward, a retired surgeon who is now 96.
“He was a great doctor, a dedicated community man, and a great church man,” said Ward, who hunted, fished and played golf with Wester.
Wester and his wife Lee, who survives him, moved into a home on 28th Street near Southeastern General Hospital and then to their long-time home on 30th Street, where they raised four children, Ellen, Bryan, Ginny and Amanda.
He founded the Lumberton Children’s Clinic, which continues operating today.
Wester served at various times as chief of staff at the hospital, president of Robeson County Medical Association, president of the North Carolina Medical Association, was Robeson County’s health director for three and half years, and was deputy state health director for eight years.
He was also instrumental in the recruitment of physicians as the hospital became Southeastern Medical Center, then Southeastern Regional Medical Center, and is today Southeastern Health.
Douglas was among those doctors, but their friendship of 50 years was not confined to the halls of the hospital.
Douglas’ family used to vacation at the Westers’ home, the first built at Bald Head, in 1973, behind the 12th green of the Bald Head Island golf course.
“Thad and I shared a love for the outdoors and camped, hunted, fished and gardened together frequently,” Douglas said. “… Thad was a sailor and we had many wonderful times sailing. We also shared a love of golf and Thad was an excellent player.
“If I had a dime for every beer we consumed surf fishing I would be a millionaire.”
Wester spent the late fall and winter of his life at Bald Head. He was profiled in a story in Our State Magazine in 2013 called the “Generator Society of Bald Head Island” about how folks who went to the island before it had electricity lived off generators.
“Without Thad, Bald Head Island would not be the best place in the world to live,” Douglas said.
Wester established the Bald Head Island Conservancy, which worked to protect sea turtles that nested in the island, and served as its president. He was accomplished fisherman, establishing and serving as dean of the Bald Head Island Conservancy Fishing School.
“Perhaps Thad’s greatest skill was his ability to take a very diverse group of individuals with very diverse views, allow each to express their views, and then bring the group to consensus, with all happy with the consensus,” Douglas said.
“He was always an advocate for preserving the beauty of the Island,” Douglas said. “He is a major loss to our community.”
The Westers were longtime members of Trinity Episcopal Church in Lumberton, where he served at various times as senior warden, vestryman, superintendent of Sunday School and lay reader.
Among the organizations he served and honors he picked up: Duke University trustee for 12 years; president of the North Carolina Health Directors Association, 1987; founder and president of the Bald Head Island Property Owner’s Association; Distinguished Alumni Award, Duke University Medical Center, 2001; Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, 1978; Outstanding North Carolina Health Director, 1986; Order of Long Leaf Pine, 1994; U.S. Public Health Service Medal, 1993.
Funeral arrangements are incomplete, but plans are for memorial services in Lumberton and at Bald Head Island.
