By Christi Mays
When Charlie Kimmey and his daughter, Kelli O’Donnell, started planning a surprise for the woman at the heart of their family, they knew it had to be special. It had to honor not just the incredible physician Dr. Kathy Kimmey is, but the deep impact she’s had on her patients, colleagues and community over the last four decades. The result was the creation of the Dr. Kathy Kimmey Presidential Endowed Scholarship—a heartfelt and enduring tribute to a life devoted to service.
Dr. Kathy Kimmey’s path to medicine was inspired in her early years, watching her father, Dr. Earl Edwin Brooks, who was a physician in their small, rural town of Bogota, Texas.
“He did everything. He was the go-to physician,” Kathy’s husband, Charlie, said. That commitment to others shaped Kathy’s own aspirations.
After graduating from Rivercrest High School, attending Paris Junior College and Texas A&M, and then medical school in Lubbock, Kathy landed at Scott & White in Temple for her residency in internal medicine from 1985 to 1988. She never left.
“She loved Scott & White. Loved the teaching aspect with medical students,” Charlie said. In 2021, Kathy transitioned to a more manageable schedule in the oncology department, focusing on patients at high risk for breast cancer, leaving behind the grueling 75- to 80-hour workweeks she once maintained.
Behind Kathy’s professional success was Charlie, a man who shaped his own career around supporting hers. “I’ve had three careers,” he said. “My career has always catered to hers, because, again, that was more of a calling for her and a passion.”
Charlie and his daughter, Kelli, had been mulling over the idea of doing something meaningful for Kathy for years, spurred on by comments from her patients and friends. Enlisting the help of several of Kathy’s close friends to gather contact information and spread the word, the surprise event took place at the Ralph Wilson Youth Club—where Charlie had worked for 17 years—under the guise of a routine gathering.
“I told her to block out that weekend, that there was an event at the youth club that we need to help with,” Charlie said with a laugh. “It’s not out of line with what she would normally be thinking or doing. We just thought it’d be kind of fun to do, and then it’s really been kind of neat.” Pulling it off, though, required a bit of undercover coordination. “I told her friends, ‘Don’t call me after hours!’”
The event was a success with more than 100 friends and family gathered to unveil the scholarship plaque along with an announcement that more than $135,000 has already been committed to the scholarship with more donations coming.
Though neither Charlie nor Kathy attended UMHB, the family felt strongly that their gift would make a deeper impact there.
“I just love UMHB,” Charlie said. “There are just a lot of good things that go on there. It’s just kind of a gem in Central Texas.” He praised the school’s leadership, especially President Dr. Randy O’Rear: “Everything they do, they do first class. A great nursing program, great athletic facilities. All the facilities are just first class.”
The scholarship he and Kelli created will support nursing students, which they knew would be deeply meaningful to Kathy.
“She’s worked with a lot of great nurses. Behind every good doctor is an even better nurse,” he said.
"I have never felt so surprised, loved and honored by this scholarship! How were my friends and family able to keep this a secret from me for over a year?” Kathy said of the celebration at the Ralph Wilson Youth Club. “What a blessing to be able to provide scholarship assistance for nurses of the future! I am thankful to live in a community that values education. Go CRU!"
Charlie said it was important to create the scholarship as a surprise to his wife since she’s never been one to seek the spotlight.
“She’s not one for the limelight. She’s kind of behind the scenes, under the radar,” Charlie said. But her influence has been anything but quiet. Her patients have always looked to her as someone who always listened.
“She had her phone on her hip, 24/7,” Charlie said. “If we are traveling on vacation and a patient calls, she’s gonna step aside and walk them through whatever needs to be done.”
Charlie and Kathy’s love story began at Texas A&M, where Charlie first spotted her at the apartment complex where they both lived (but he was too shy to talk to her), he admitted.
“So one day, I told Mark, my roommate, ‘That’s the girl I’m gonna marry.’”
Eventually, Mark took matters into his own hands and introduced them. They married in 1981, raised two children, Brooks and Kelli, and now have six grandchildren.
“Faith, family and friends—that’s just kind of who she is,” he said.
For Charlie, the decision to honor his wife this way was both emotional and rewarding. “She deserves it just because she’s dedicated her life to medicine and helping others, and we just thought it’d be something fun to do and a neat way to honor her.”
