Dr. Roy Oscar. Elam, III

Dr. Roy Oscar Elam, III passed away on August 20, 2018. A life-long Nashvillian, Dr. Elam was a leader in the Nashville health care community for 40 years. His practice is best characterized in his own words: “It’s really important to understand that medicine is science, but it is primarily relationships, and that, in the end, is not measurable.”

Born on October 3, 1946, Dr. Elam was a graduate of Montgomery Bell Academy and the University of the South, where he was a member of the wrestling team. He received his medical degree from the University of Tennessee, Memphis and later completed a fellowship of gastroenterology at Vanderbilt Hospital. Dr. Elam started his internal medicine practice with Frist-Scoville Medical Group and went on to hold various leadership positions at St Thomas Hospital and Vanderbilt Hospital.

Dr. Elam was a member of the Vanderbilt University faculty from 1976 until his retirement in 2016. He served as an advisor to the school of medicine honor council and was the first director of Vanderbilt’s palliative care program. A lifelong-learner, Dr. Elam enjoyed working with each new class of medical students especially in the area of end-of-life care.

Dr. Elam’s professional career culminated in his founding of The Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Vanderbilt University whose mission is to care for the whole person - mind, body and spirit. Elam was a pioneer of mindfulness in medicine and understood the significance of healing in the mind and heart as critical to healing in the body. Under Elam’s guidance, The Osher Center has become a national leader in integrative medicine. His colleagues cherished him as a teacher and inspiration.

Dr. Elam cared passionately about serving his community. His affiliations include: Chairman of the Mayor’s Healthy 2010 Leadership Council, Chairman of the Board of Alive Hospice, Chairman of the Board of the Justin Potter Scholarship Committee at Vanderbilt, Board Member Montgomery Bell Academy, Leadership Nashville, Centennial Medical Center, St. Thomas Hospital and Vanderbilt’s Children’s Hospital. He also served on the vestry at Christ Church Cathedral.

In addition to his deep affection for his patients, Dr. Elam loved his friends and family. He was especially proud of his six grandchildren. Over the years, he enjoyed much travel, and his favorite place to be was on the mountain in Sewanee, TN where he blazed and hiked miles of trails. In the end, Dr. Elam was most at home in the woods among the trees.

Dr. Elam was preceded in death by his wife Carol Clark Elam; his parents, Thelma Barnett Elam and Dr. Roy Oscar Elam Jr.; and his sister, Mary Louise Elam Reynolds. He is survived by his wife, Kaye White Elam; his daughter, Clark Elam Harwell (Tom); his son, Roy Oscar Elam, IV (Anne Tolly); six grandchildren, Caroline, Thomas and Will Harwell; Oscar, Lola and Henry Elam; his brothers, Dr. Robert Elam (Kathy), David Elam (Jeanne) and John Elam (Lulu); his sister, Karen Schneider; his step-mother, Tish Elam.

Dr. Elam’s family offers their deep gratitude to the nurses, caregivers and staff of Abe’s Garden.

Visitation will be Wednesday, August 22 from 4 p.m. – 7p.m. and at 12 p.m. August 23 prior to the service, Christ Church Cathedral. Service will be Thursday, August 23 at 1:00 p.m., Christ Church Cathedral.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Alive Hospice of Nashville, 1718 Patterson Street, Nashville, TN 37209; St Mary’s Sewanee, 770 St Mary’s Lane, Sewanee, TN, 37375; Roy O. Elam, III Fund at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Vanderbilt, 3401 West End Avenue, Suite 380, Nashville, TN, 37203.