LUMBERTON — Dr. Freeman A. “Bill” Berne, who founded Lumberton Radiological Associates, is being recalled as a pioneer in medicine in Robeson County following his death on Sunday. He was 73 years old.
The family is planning a celebration of Berne’s life at 4 p.m. Friday at Brays Island Inn in Sheldon, S.C.
“His accomplishments were so many that I do not know where to begin,” said Billie Jean, his wife of 52 years.
In 1959 Berne earned his undergraduate degree from the University of South Carolina, where he met Billie Jean, and later graduated from Duke University Medical School in 1965. He served in the United States Air Force from 1965 to 1967, and moved to Lumberton in 1970 after completing his residency at the Medical College of Georgia.
When he arrived in Lumberton, the Radiological Department was in “shambles” at what was then called Southeastern General Hospital, according to Dr. Ben Gasque, a radiologist and former CEO at LRA. The hospital was only performing simple X-rays, so patients who needed any sort of special imaging were sent to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center or Duke University Medical Center.
Gasque said that Berne pushed the boundaries of the county’s medical community, calling him an “innovator and initiator.”
“We now offer residents full-scale services,” Gasque said. “He brought all imaging modalities. We used to make the comment that we like practicing big-city medicine in a small community””
Gasque said Berne and another LRA doctor had recruited him to the practice in 1981.
“He was not just my professional colleague. He was my mentor and dear, personal friend,” Gasque said.
Dr. Rowell Burleson, a urologist, said that Berne’s reputation and radiological practice were instrumental in his decision to come to Lumberton.
“He was a big factor in my decision to come here, because I knew I could have radiological support,” Burleson said. “He was well respected by his peers, both professionally and socially.”
Berne was an avid outdoors man and often hunted and fished with Burleson. The men once owned a hunting preserve and traveled to Canada and all over the United States looking for the best game.
“We spent a lot of times in the wood together,” Burleson said. “He was just a tremendous individual. He was like a brother to me.”
Berne founded several hunting clubs, including a local chapter of Ducks Unlimited, and Rountree Hunt Club.
He retired from LRA in 1997 and moved to Bald Head Island before he and his wife moved to Brays Island Plantation in Sheldon.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by three sons, Dabney, of Columbia, S.C., and David and Jeff, both of Southport; two sisters, Carol Berne Fowles and Pat Mizell, both of Columbia, S.C.; and five grandchildren.
“Bill was a hard-driving, motivated individual,” Gasque said. “He set high standards and continued to meet those standards both personally and professionally.”
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