EDITORIAL: Remembering two inspiring lives

With the recent passing of Dr. Luke D. “Buddy” Baxley and Lou Scott, Hartsville has lost two people of immense compassion and vision who were sources of genuine and lasting good in our community.

Dr. Baxley died April 16, Mrs. Scott less than a week later on April 22.

Their civic mindedness, their compassion for others, their willingness to go well beyond merely what might be expected to bring positive change to their community and to the lives of their neighbors and fellow citizens was remarkable and inspiring.

Dr. Baxley spent more than 20 years as a family physician in the community he loved. He began serving the health care needs of Hartsville area residents in 1983 during his residency with McLeod Regional Medical Center in Florence. He entered full-time practice in Hartsville in 1985, and in 1988, he and his wife, Kathy, opened their own medical practice where he saw and treated patients until illness forced him to retire in 2004.

On the first night the Free Medical Clinic of Darlington County, an interdenominational Christian ministry, opened its doors to receive patients in August of 2000, Dr. Baxley was there doing what he did best, caring for others in need. “As soon as he found out what was happening, he immediately became involved as a physician volunteer,” said Jay James, former chairman of the clinic’s Board of Directors and one of the original organizers of the clinic.

“I think that demonstrates where his heart was,” James said. “You just cannot overstate what a good Christian man Buddy Baxley was.” No, you can’t.

From that moment on, Dr. Baxley served as an example as a dedicated physician volunteer with the clinic, administering medical care week after week to those suffering but who could not otherwise afford to seek care, until he became unable to practice any more.

His commitment to his Christian faith and his desire to share it with others led many of his patients to refer to him as “the preacher doc.” He remained steadfast even through the ravages of illness.

Dr. Baxley’s influence and inspiration manifested themselves again in the decision to open an office of the Free Clinic in Hartsville in 2006. Today, appropriately, that office is located in the building that once housed Baxley’s medical practice.

He also brought his wife into the Free Clinic family. Kathy Baxley is the clinic’s second executive director and is a major force in the clinic’s success.

Last year, through the efforts of its staff and its corps of volunteers, the Free Clinic saw 2,663 office visits at its two sites and administered 10,894 medications through its pharmacy. Today, the clinic has a patient base of about 3,000 people throughout Darlington County.

A former pastor once described Mary Louise Raley Scott as “a sermon in shoe leather.” That sums it up pretty well.

The founder of the Darlington County Disabilities and Special Needs Board – the Lou Scott Center in Hartsville – made a difference in more lives than she or we will ever realize. She got her introduction to working with children with special needs as a substitute teacher and quickly became their champion.

Under her drive and leadership and her commitment to making things better for people with disabilities, what started as a ministry in the form of a church kindergarten in 1967 serving two mentally disabled children with a total budget of $2,700 today serves some 400 to 450 people with an annual budget of more than $4.6 million.

Mrs. Scott continued to serve as the center’s director until her retirement in 1994. “I believe it was my calling,” she said in a 2006 interview with The Messenger.

“The most rewarding thing about my career has been seeing the children change and learn to do things to help themselves,” she recalled in that interview. “I tried to help the clients to live independently. Parents sometimes feel sorry for them. I want them to learn to do what they can do.

She also played a key role in organizing Hartsville Special Housing Inc. to administer group homes for DSNB clients. Today, the DNSB provides a wide array of services for clients through the Scott Center, and Hartsville is fortunate to have such a facility.

There are people not yet born whose lives will be better because of the influence of “the preacher doc” and “Miss Lou.”

They made us richer as a community. Their examples will continue to inspire.