By Sandra Archer Young
For Rosemary, the Power of Prayer Was a Priority
Dr. Rosemary Lambert-Falls is a petite, but feisty medical trailblazer. She earned her degrees in an era when women were discouraged from pursuing a career in medicine. But in her lifetime, she treated hundreds of individuals in South Carolina who battled breast cancer and blood diseases.
Yet Rosemary is more than just an accomplished physician. She is also a regular donor to Columbia International University.
When asked why she and her late husband Thomas Falls began giving to CIU, Rosemary responds without hesitation.
“I like the programs they offer where you take the Lord into the workplace,” she explains. “CIU equips these students to be good at their workplace job and great at sharing the Word.”
Rosemary grew up in the farming community of Aynor, South Carolina where she accepted Christ at an early age. Her father, Johnny Lenneau Lambert, farmed but also operated the community’s grocery store. Her interest in medicine started with her father who was a pre-med student until World War II forced him to abandon his studies and join the military.
“My dad was a hard Marine on the outside, but he would give anybody anything if it would make their life Dr. Rosemary Lambert-Falls better,” says Rosemary. “We had this local store, and people would come and honk their horns at night. And Daddy would get up to see what they needed, whether it was milk for the baby or money for their medicine.” His lifestyle of compassion and empathy ignited the same flame in Rosemary.
Her interest in medicine emerged at an early age when a sibling received a gift he never played with.
“My older brother had a chemistry set and a microscope. And I took them away and used them,” Rosemary recalls. “I wasn’t old enough to know what I was doing. But I remember pricking my finger and looking through the microscope.”
As a teenager, her interest in medicine continued to develop. She spent her first weekend in college reading her genetics textbook from cover to cover. Eventually, she settled on studying oncology and hematology. After obtaining board certification in internal medicine, medical oncology, and hematology, she helped found South Carolina Oncology Associates.
Angela Conder, Dean of CIU’s School of Nursing knows of her legacy firsthand. Her mother was Rosemary’s nurse practitioner. “I’ve known her since I was five or 10 years old,” says Conder. “She and her now late husband, Mr. Tom Falls, were a huge part of my life growing up. She was one of the reasons why I wanted to go to medical school.”
According to Conder, Rosemary was one of the few female partners when the oncology practice was established. Conder witnessed firsthand the challenges Rosemary faced and how she “navigated her experience there with grace.”
If you could talk to one of her former patients, he or she would recall Rosemary’s tenacious spirit and her genuine empathy for others. But they would also testify to her conviction that prayer works. Rosemary understood that as a doctor, prayer was never a last resort. Eventually she came up with a unique strategy that invited God to intervene in the lives of her patients.
She assembled a crew of three women, all friends, and called upon them regularly to intercede for certain medical procedures that she feared might be difficult for a patient. This “prayer team” was charged to pray on their knees for five minutes before a procedure. Many of her patients knew about her prayer team that regularly, according to Rosemary, “prayed us through.” “I had a patient who had to have a spinal tap every other week for six weeks. One time, however, I couldn’t get the needle in. And the patient asked me about the prayer team: ‘Are they all praying? Has one of them stood up?’” says Rosemary, laughing.
In addition to scheduling intercessory prayer for her patients, she also believed that medical treatment should be coordinated around the patient’s schedule and activities. Her husband Tom, who was later diagnosed with cancer, benefited from that belief.
“I’ve always believed in treating patients where they are,” says Rosemary. “We traveled wherever we could. As long as he could play golf, he was happy. So that’s what we did. If he needed treatment, we might be in San Antonio, but he’d be on the golf course after treatment.”
Rosemary shared the story of a young mother who was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. She was preparing for her first ski trip, a trip that was already paid for. Unfortunately, she needed treatment immediately. Rosemary contacted her prayer team and then announced her plan to her patient.
“This is what we’re going to do,” directed Rosemary. “You stay right here and you start praying. I‘m going to make a phone call to see if we can arrange your therapy on the ski slopes.” God intervened and the request for an accommodation was granted. Rosemary viewed prayer as an essential tool in her profession.
“I’ve given treatment on cruise liners,” says Rosemary. “All of it was through prayer and God who moved everybody’s heart.”
Rosemary retired in 2012, but she is still energetic. After her first husband passed way, she married former childhood sweetheart, Stan Price. They can be found traveling across the United States, Europe, or Israel, a favorite location. When this “praying doctor” reflects upon her life, she cannot help but be grateful.
“It’s been a whirlwind life,” she says, “but I wouldn’t trade it for anything — except heaven.”
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