Dr. Bill Robey '56, Appreciative Student Pays Back Roanoke College

Dr. Bill Robey ’56 has joined the ranks of Roanoke College’s planned giving donors.  He says that while his reasons for choosing Roanoke may have been unusual, he knows he is still benefiting from his time here.

“My father was a professor [at Roanoke College].  We really didn’t have a lot of funds so that I could go anywhere I wanted,” he recalls.

“Basically, I had one choice.  In retrospect, I might have had more fun if I had gone away to school, but then I may not have gotten good enough grades to graduate!”

Dr. Robey says he is aware of what he owes the College.

“I feel that I should give back to the College since it launched me on my career.”

His is certainly a career that Roanoke College can be proud of.  After graduation, Dr. Robey went to the medical school at the University of Virginia.  He is now in Phoenix, Arizona where he still works in a family practice.

Except for the years he spent in the Navy, Dr. Robey and his wife have been in Phoenix since 1961.

“We came for the weather,” he recalls.

Despite the distance between Phoenix and Salem, Dr. Robey says he know how important it is for people to remember Roanoke College.

“I think Roanoke College is certainly deserving of whatever I can do.  It is still a small school, a personal school, and it doesn’t have the state funding that a place like the University of Virginia does.  So I just think that a personal gift is more appreciated at Roanoke College.”

“I have no qualms about the fact that my gift will be used well.”