Dr. William Rick Lambeth

Dr. William Rick Lambeth died at his home on May 19, 2024 at the age of 76.  Rick was born on March 18, 1948 to Joseph Patrick and Panthea Huffines Lambeth, the eldest of their four children.  He grew up in northern Guilford County, attended Greensboro City Schools, and graduated from Page High School in 1966.  He was an honor student and starting shortstop on the baseball team in both his junior and senior years and team captain in his senior year.  Rick also played on the 1965 state runner-up Greensboro Cone American Legion baseball team and played freshman baseball at UNC, until a severe knee injury ended his playing career.

Rick graduated from UNC in 1970 with a B.A in chemistry.  He was an Alcoa Merit Scholar and a junior year inductee into Phi Beta Kappa.  After graduating from UNC, Rick was awarded a Reynolds Scholarship to attend The Bowman Gray School of Medicine of Wake Forest University.  At Bowman Gray, he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha national medical honor fraternity. He received his MD degree in 1974.

After graduating from Bowman Gray, Rick returned to Chapel Hill for Residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology, which he completed in 1978.  He then joined Durham Obstetrics and Gynecology and received a staff appointment to Durham County General Hospital, now Duke Regional Hospital. He also received an appointment to the Duke University Medical Center faculty as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and was actively involved in teaching Duke residents and medical students. He served on a number of medical committees, but he especially enjoyed his time on the Admissions Committee for the Duke School of Medicine.

Rick was a member of many professional groups, including the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the North Carolina Ob/Gyn society, the North Carolina Medical Society, and the American Medical Association.  He was active in the Robert A. Ross Ob-Gyn Society (for present and former UNC faculty and residents), serving as secretary/treasurer for a number of years and then as president of that organization.  Rick led the fundraising campaign that established the Charles H. Hendricks Professorship in Ob-Gyn at the UNC School of Medicine.  In 2013, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Award from the Ross Society. 

Rick continued in his position as a clinical professor at Duke until 2013, after having retired from the active practice of Ob-Gyn in 1998 due to poor health. Rick came to view his illness as a blessing.  During his school and working years, family frequently got little of his time. Because of his illness, he was able to spend more time with his family, and he got to enjoy his precious grandchildren more than he had previously been able to.  

Rick is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Altvater Lambeth; his son, Scott Davis Lambeth of Chapel Hill; his daughter, Katherine Courtney Lambeth of Salt Lake City, Utah; his grandchildren, Zachary Lambeth Roberts and his wife, Monica, Greta Zavodni, and Simon Zavodni, and his great grandchildren, Sadie Roberts and Marshall Roberts.  In addition to his parents, Rick was pre-deceased by his daughter, Anne Elizabeth Lambeth, his sister, Judith Patricia Lambeth, and his brothers, Randolph J. Lambeth and Joseph P. Lambeth, Jr.

The family is deeply grateful for the many years of superb care given Rick by Dr. Joseph Govert and Dr. Elizabeth Malcolm.  They also appreciate the incredible care from Duke HomeCare and Hospice for the last ten months of his life.

 A memorial service for Rick will be held at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Durham on Saturday, May 25, at 2:00 with  Rev. Susan Keedy officiating.

 Anyone who would like to remember Rick with a memorial gift is invited to choose from among his favorite causes— Residential Services, Inc.,111 Providence Road, Chapel Hill, NC  27514; Special Olympics Orange County, 200 Plant Road, Chapel Hill, NC  27514;  Camp Royall, 250 Bill Ash Road, Moncure, NC 27559, or Duke Homecare and Hospice 4321 Medical Park Drive, Suite101 Durham, NC 27704.