Dr. Boyd L. Hames is remembered as a skilled and knowledgeable family doctor who kept up with medical advances to better serve his patients and the community.

Hames, 84, of 103 Beechtree Place, died Wednesday at his home. He was the husband of 57 years to Anne Ayers Hames.

A Jonesville native, Hames was the son of the late William Walter Hames and Lucile Youmans Hames. He was a graduate of Jonesville High School, Wofford College and the Medical College of South Carolina. He served in the United States Army Air Corps from June of 1943 until December of 1945.

In 1953, Hames joined Dr. Harold P. Hope in a family medicine practice. Dr. David Keith joined the practice in 1979 and Hames retired in 2001.

Keith said like any other new doctor, he had a lot of questions and uncertainties as he began his practice and Hames and Hope were excellent resources he could call on any time of the day or night.

“Dr. Hames had a wealth of knowledge and skills, not just what he carried in his head,” Keith said. “He was a model physician and a model person. He was constantly learning; he enjoyed learning new things he wasn’t afraid to try new things. He came along in an era when doctors who practiced general medicine also did general surgery and he was an excellent surgeon.”

Hames was the first physician in Union to use endotrachial anesthesia and he went to Charleston for training in this, Keith said. Hames also was the first to perform laprascopic surgery — laprascopic tubal ligations.

“He was incredibly humble — you would never hear him brag about himself or his family,” Keith said. “And he lived by the old rule that if you couldn’t say anything good about someone, don’t say anything at all.”

If Hames had been working all night, he didn’t complain.

“He’d come to work the next day and never let you know he was tired,” Keith said. “He was a remarkable person. He was so humble that a lot of people didn’t realize what a remarkable person he was.”

Dr. Gerald Fielder, another longtime local physician, came to Union the same year as Hames, but a month sooner.

“I liked to tell him that I had seniority,” Fielder said. “He was a wonderful colleague. I always had a good relationship with Dr. Hames. He was a good person and a good doctor.”

Hames, Fielder and Dr. Robert Wentz often performed surgery together — one doing the surgery, one assisting and one doing anesthesia.

“It broke our hearts when he told us that he would have to give up his practice because of his vision,” Fielder said. “He was very dedicated and he hated to give up his practice. He was a friend. If we were ever in trouble and needed help, we were always free to call on each other.”

Dr. P.K. Switzer Jr., another friend and fellow Union physician, taught Hames chemistry in medical school. It was one of Switzer’s first experiences as a teacher.

“Dr. Hames said I was about the worst teacher he ever had,” Switzer said. “But I did get better. I was very fond of him. He always a gentleman and we will miss him.”

Hames was a member of Grace United Methodist Church, a member and past president of the Rotary Club of Union, a member of American Legion Post #22, the Union County Medical Society, the South Carolina Medical Society, where he was a member of the Infant and Maternal Welfare Committee, the American Medical Society and a Fellow and Diplomate of the American Academy of Family Practice. In 1999, he was honored by the Union County Health Department for the many years he had served as a volunteer in its family planning programs. The conference room in the facility on Thomas Street is named in honor.

Dr. John Flood said Hames never accepted any money for his services to DHEC and the Family Planning Clinic.

“He spearheaded that until his retirement,” Flood said. “He was committed to this community. He was an incredible man, a gentleman and a very good family doctor. He was mild mannered, but if something needed to be said, he wasn’t afraid to step up to the table and say it. If he had to something harsh he could say it in as nice a way as anybody could say it, whether to a patient, the staff or a fellow doctor.”

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Grace United Methodist Church conducted by the Rev. David Caughman. Burial will be in Gilead Baptist Church Cemetery in Jonesville.