Doc Roberts (1994) - Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame

Doc Roberts

Induction:
1994

   H.D. “Doc” Roberts is remembered as one of the greatest golfers while playing for Southern Miss in the 1950s.
Roberts certainly has come a long way from the days when as a child his father would give him enough money for a ticket to a Southern Miss football game, a bag of popcorn and a drink. Doc would then sneak into the game through the old Rock, saving the 25 cents it would have cost him to get in.
    Golf, the game he grew to love, was something he never took up until he was in his late teens. Yet it didn’t take long for him with hours of practice and hundreds of trips around the course to get to be pretty good.
    The 1952 USM golf team of which Doc was a prominent member of won three dual matches, while losing two and posted a fourth place finish in the Gulf States Conference tournament. Doc help lead the team to victories over Southeastern Louisiana, Pensacola Naval Air Station and the Laurel Country Club.
    It would be difficult to tell you in this short period of time all that Doc has done and still does for USM. He is actively involved in the Eagle Club and M-Club Alumni Association. As president and CEO of R&M Foods, whose holdings include the Sunflower and County Market Food Stores, he is actively involved with sponsorships of Golden Eagle athletics through the radio-television partners, corporate tents, corporate ticket plans, the Patron Eagle program and supplies his corporate plane for use of the athletic staff and coaches when necessary. The M-Club Alumni Building, would not be here without the financial support of Doc Roberts and others.
    But Doc is just that type of person, the kind that is willing to help someone that needs help, someone who is down on his luck, and never want any credit for it.
   School’s like Southern Miss would never make it without the support of people like Roberts. People who love this place, a place like he says “meant so much to me”.
   And when we watch one of our Golden Eagles score a touchdown and win big games like the 1953 and 1954 wins over Alabama that you say are some of your fondest memories, then you are as responsible for those wins as if you threw the block yourself to free the running back.
    Doc has suffered two serious heart attacks, one in 1978, the other in 1987 when he almost passed away. He will tell you that it is a miracle that he is here today. But it is obvious that God intends for Doc to enrich all our lives for many years to come.
Whether its playing golf with Arnold Palmer or Lee Trevino or just a kid looking for someone to play with that day, Doc is just Doc. He is special to our state, he is special to our community and he is special to the University of Southern Mississippi.
The athletic department's annual award for untiring service is now named in his honor, The H.D. (Doc) Roberts Distinguished Service Award.