Blair Dillard Erb
Obituaries
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 11A - October 6, 2021
Blair Dillard
Erb, MD
November 23, 1930 - September 25, 2021
Blair Dillard Erb, MD,
loving husband, father
and grandfather, respected
physician, adventurer,
gifted storyteller and
thinker, passed away on
September 25, 2021, at the
age of 90, in Heber City, Utah.
He was born to Harley Ellsworth Erb II and Louise
Dillard Erb on November 23, 1930, in Bristol, Virginia.
The youngest of two sons, he was raised in Memphis,
Tennessee, as a depression-era baby where he was
taught the value of money, a strong work ethic, and
the etiquette of a Southern gentleman. He excelled
academically at an early age and was well rounded by
his participation in sports, student government and in
the Boy Scouts where he achieved the rank of Eagle
Scout. He decided in high school that medicine was his
career choice. Focused and determined, he attended The
University of Tennessee Knoxville which offered, in
conjunction with The University of Tennessee College
of Medicine, an accelerated path to an MD degree. By
continuing coursework through the summers, he was
able to obtain his undergraduate degree and MD degree
in five years.
He managed to take a few breaks from the books and
during a visit to his ancestral home in Salem, Virginia,
he met the love of his life, Sarah Lee Smith “Sally”
at a neighborhood taffy pull. Smitten at first sight, a
long-distance relationship followed mainly by mail
correspondence and occasional train rides between
Memphis and Dallas where she was a student at SMU.
They were married on June 20, 1953.
After a general internship, Blair entered active duty
in the US Air Force as a flight surgeon where he was
assigned to Ent Air Force Base in Colorado Springs,
Colorado. He loved aviation and took every opportunity
he could to fly with his fellow servicemen. It was in
Colorado that he and Sally cemented their love of the
outdoors and wilderness adventure. They camped on
the banks of the Taylor River above Almont where Blair
honed his fishing skills and skied at Cooper Hill on
surplus wooden skis from the Army’s 10th Mountain
Division. Sally taught summer school at Colorado
College, now the alma mater of two of their children
and two grandchildren.
After having their first child in Colorado Springs,
they moved backed to Memphis where Blair completed
his residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in
Cardiology at UT. Upon completion of his training in
1960, he accepted a position at the Jackson Clinic in
Jackson, Tennessee where he practiced for 33 years.
Blair’s passion for medicine and serving others was
palpable. He considered himself lucky to have practiced
medicine in a bygone era. He was an astute, devoted,
and compassionate physician. He would often take
one of his children with him to work, whether it was
on house calls in the 60s, rounding in the hospital, or
dictating in the clinic. He loved his patients and they
revered him. It was not uncommon for a bag of home
picked vegetables or a pound cake to show up on his
front door step from a patient he never charged.
Blair was not content just practicing medicine but
was involved in numerous medical organizations
and lectured around the state and country. He served
as the governor for the Tennessee chapter of the
American College of Physicians and served on writing
committees for the American Heart Association.
His interest in cardiac rehabilitation and exercise
physiology made him a national expert. Combining his
interest in the outdoors and medicine, he served as the
fourth president of The Wilderness Medical Society,
probably his most rewarding and enjoyable professional
endeavor. All of these contributions led to his most
significant recognition; an invitation to membership
and designation as a Fellow in The Explorers Club.
Blair and Sally had three children. They introduced
them early to their favorite part of the country with
yearly summer camping excursions to Colorado.
Probably one of the most memorable adventures was a
three month sabbatical he took in 1970, relocating his
family to the Gunnison area in an Airstream trailer
and embarking on daily regional camping, hiking and
fishing outings. The trip concluded with Blair and his
eldest son summiting Mt. Rainier in Washington.
He lost his love and sustaining force Sally in 1998
after 45 years of marriage, a loss that weighed heavily
on him for the rest of his life. He persevered, however,
and developed many new friendships and devoted much
of his time to his grandchildren. He briefly lived in
Grand Junction, Colorado, but eventually relocated to
Townsend, Tennessee, on a beautiful property at the
base of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
It was there that he found peace and spent time with
his junior high school friend, Ann Rollow Ross, and
slowly built his personal library, a collection of over
4000 volumes, with which he was so enamored. His
final years were spent in Heber City, Utah, near his
caring and loving daughter at Spring Gardens where he
enjoyed the company of many wonderful friends.
Blair was guided by his Presbyterian faith which began
in early childhood and remained a constant influence
throughout his life. One of his favorite ceremonies was
the Kirkin’ O’ the Tartans, a celebration of the Scottish
Presbyterian heritage based on the blessing of tartans
which includes a procession of participants dressed in
kilts and accompanied by bagpipes.
Blair was the utmost gentleman and a constant
dreamer. He always had a story to tell or a lesson to
give. He loved life, he loved conversation and most of
all he loved his wife, children and grandchildren. He
will be sorely missed by his family and friends. His
family would like to thank the staff at Spring Gardens
for their unwavering kindness and wonderful care they
afforded him over the past few years.
He is preceded in death by his wife, Sarah Lee Erb,
and brother, Harley E. Erb III, and leaves behind
children, Blair D. Erb, Jr. MD (Elizabeth), Mary Lou
Layton (Brent), Roy E. Erb MD (Susan), and eight
grandchildren, Sarah Beth, Mary Kate, Lauren, Brent
Thomas, Emily, Lindsey, Sarah Megan, and Watts.
A private memorial will be October 7, 2021, at 9:30
a.m., at Salem Presbyterian Church, 41 East Main Street,
Salem, VA 24153 followed by burial at Evergreen Burial
Park, 1307 Summit Ave SW, Roanoke, VA, 24015.
Funeral arrangements are provided by John M.
Oakey and Son Funeral Home www.johnmoakey.com.
In lieu of flowers memorial contributions can be made
to The Wilderness Medical Society https://wms.org/
about/donations.asp or Friends of the Smokies www
