University of the Ozarks lost a dear member of its University family with the recent passing of Dr. Roger Bost, a 1943 graduate and long-time member of the University’s Board of Trustees.
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Bost died on Nov. 19, 2013, at the age of 92, at his home in Little Rock. There will be a funeral service at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 21, at St. James Methodist Church in Little Rock, followed by burial in Clarksville.
Bost, who was an honorary lifetime member of the Board, has served as a trustee of the University since 1983. He is the former director of the Arkansas State Department of Human Services and was a retired senior pediatric physician at Arkansas Children’s Hospital and a pediatric professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He initiated the state’s first private, non-profit mental health center and established the Bost Foundation.
Bost, whose father was also an Ozarks graduate, received an honorary doctorate from Ozarks. He was also the recipient of the 1965 U of O Alumni Association’s Achievement Award and was given the 2004 Legacy Award by the University. The Legacy Award is presented to alumni who “have given unselfishly of their resources to support Ozarks throughout their lifetimes.”
“Dr. Bost has been a giant in the state of Arkansas in terms of health care and mental health care at all levels,” said U of O Executive Vice President Emeritus Steve Edmisten. “His family has had a long, long legacy with Ozarks and we are tremendously proud to call him one of our own. He honored his alma mater and his state with all he did in life.”
Bost and his wife, Kathryn (King), also a 1943 graduate of Ozarks, were married in 1944. He served with the U.S. Navy during World War II.
He served as a Fort Smith pediatrician from 1959 to 1968. He later founded Bost, Inc., a not-for-profit organization aiding children with developmental disabilities and other related conditions. Bost, Inc., now has locations in 34 counties in Arkansas, said Kent Jones, executive director of the organization. Bost was appointed Arkansas’ director of human services in the 1960s by Gov. Dale Bumpers.
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