GALLIPOLIS - In a medical career spanning several decades, Dr. Keith R. Brandeberry was estimated to have delivered more than 16,000 babies. By that accomplishment alone, he staked a memory with a few generations of parents and their children throughout the tri-county area.

But Brandeberry, who died Monday at age 84, was also remembered as an individual who gave much to the community where he lived for over 50 years.

Brandeberry joined the staff of Holzer Clinic in 1952 after completing a three-year residency in obstetrics and gynecology at General Hospital in Cincinnati. He and his wife Evelyn raised their three children here and he became a fixture in community activities.

Among the organizations that counted him as a member were the Gallipolis Rotary Club, the executive board of Ohio Valley Bank, the board of trustees of the University of Rio Grande and the Gallia County Chamber of Commerce, where he served a one-year term as president in 1966-67.

Brandeberry was presented the 2006 Outstanding Service Award from the Gallipolis Boat Club, where he had been a member since 1957.

Jeffrey E. Smith, president and chief executive officer of Ohio Valley Bank, noted that Brandeberry also chaired the bank's Examination and Audit Committee during his 32 years of service on the executive board.

Dr. Paul C. Hayes, a former president of the University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College, called Brandeberry the “perfect board member” who understood the difference between directorship and management, Smith recalled.

“He was not only a successful physician,” Smith said. “He was also a successful businessman who invested both his money and his time in the community in which he lived.

“He provided me much counsel over the years and always made time with his busy schedule to talk to a young banker about both banking and business,” he added. “I agree with Dr. Hayes, ‘Brandy' was the perfect board member.”

Born in Coolville and a 1942 graduate of Ohio University, Brandeberry served in the Navy during World War II. He received his medical doctoral degree from Case Western Reserve University in 1946, and was director of the OB-GYN department at Guam Memorial Hospital from 1947 until 1949, when he began his residency at Cincinnati.

A member and elder of Gallipolis' First Presbyterian Church, Brandeberry would be a past president and Paul Harris Fellow of the Gallipolis Rotary, which he joined soon after he came to town.

Fellow Rotarian Jim Morrison called him a central figure in club and community activities, from dishing out ice cream in the club booth at the Bob Evans Farm Festival to seeing 9-1-1 emergency service become a reality in Gallia County.

“There's no question he was one of the key members in the club and the community,” Morrison said. “He was one of those people who are a key to whatever organization they belong to.

“It's a definite loss to the community,” he added.

Dr. and Mrs. Brandeberry had been married for 61 years at the time of his death. He is also survived by their children, Dr. April Magnussen and Roger Brandeberry, both of Gallipolis, and Thomas Brandeberry of St. Simon's Island, Ga. Eight grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and a sister, Louise Wharton of Columbus, also survive him.

Services will be 1 p.m. Saturday at the First Presbyterian Church. Calling hours are 4 to 8 p.m. today at the McCoy-Moore Funeral Home Wetherholt Chapel.