Robert Swaim Flowers, MD

Dr. Robert Swaim Flowers, a poet, surgeon, and devoted father and husband, died peacefully on Wednesday, February 28, surrounded by family. World-renowned in his field of Plastic Surgery, “Dr. Bob” was a pioneer and developed many modern aesthetic surgical techniques. He was a church elder, lay pastor, amateur historian, philanthropist, and musician, but at his core he was an artist and a poet whose zeal for beauty colored everything he touched.

Born on September 13, 1934, in Greenville Alabama, he was raised in his ancestral family home in Tuscaloosa known as the “Big House.” Dr. Bob went on to graduate from the University of Alabama, and, after an interlude at Southern Theological Seminary, graduated from the University of Alabama’s Medical College. The Army called, and Dr. Bob answered and found himself stationed in the tropical sands of Hawaii. After his service to his country, he completed his residency at the Cleveland Clinic, and returned to the healing blue waters of the Pacific islands where he raised his four sons and built a thriving surgical practice. After more than forty years, Dr. Bob returned home to Birmingham and the red clay of Alabama.

Dr. Flowers is survived by his wife, Susan, his four sons, Swaim, Robert, Christian, and Jonathan, his six grandchildren, one great-grandchild, and an enduring legacy of faith and whole-hearted living.

A graveside service with military honors will be held Tuesday, March 5, 2024 beginning at 2:45 p.m. at Alabama National Cemetery located at 3133 Hwy 119, Montevallo, AL 35115. The family will receive friends on Wednesday, March 6, 2024 beginning at 10:00 a.m. with the memorial service following at 11:00 a.m. at Mountain Brook Community Church, located at 3001 US Hwy 280, Mountain Brook, AL 35243.

In lieu of flowers the family kindly requests that donations made to the Alabama Symphony Orchestra “in memoriam of Robert S. Flowers, M.D.”