Dr. William Rambo, Sr., 93, of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, beloved husband of Dr. Lydia A. Engelhardt, entered into eternal rest Saturday, April 11, 2026.

Bill Rambo was born in India 93 years ago, the middle child of five, to Dr. Victor Clough Rambo and Louise S. Birch, dedicated medical missionary parents. Paradoxically, he lived a storied and privileged childhood that some would have considered deprived. In order to get a solid American curriculum education, when he was 6, he began his education at a boarding school that was located a three-day train journey from his family and home in central India. The school is located in what was a former British colonial “Hill Station,” strategically located at an elevation of 7,500 feet to avoid the grueling heat of India. So, while separated a great distance from his parents and his home at a very early age, he was in a beautiful setting where, with his school friends, he could hike on weekends.

After graduation, Bill departed India for the US to attend Lafayette College for his undergraduate education, and then attended medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, following in the footsteps of his father and older brother, Birch. Next came his General Surgery internship at the University of Michigan Medical Center; Bill then completed his General Surgery residency training at Harvard's Fifth Surgical Service at Boston City Hospital. By disposition drawn to research and teaching, Bill then completed a Teaching and Research Fellowship at Harvard Medical School.

It was during his training in Boston that, in 1961, he married his first wife, Sara Williamson. She was the sister of a close friend, Ben, whom he’d met and worked with as a camp counselor. Sara was his first true love, and he cared for her deeply, later quietly mourning his impending loss of her over the years of her illness. His marriage to Sara, with her strong roots in South Carolina, led to his career move to join the General Surgical Faculty in Charleston at the Medical University of South Carolina in 1965. Bill and Sara and the children had wonderful adventures and years together, including Bill's Sabbatical year in Uganda, in 1972-73, where the older children attended a local public school. Despite the looming presence of Idi Amin contributing to the departure of many other ex-pats, the family remained safe, and traveled to game parks. Bill and Sara were able to shelter the children from the worsening political situation, while Bill provided a much-needed academic surgical faculty presence and surgical care. It was an exciting and extraordinary year.

Bill’s joining the General Surgical Faculty at MUSC in 1965 was a big change for him, but he quickly settled in, made friends with the very small handful of full-time faculty at that time, and, with a new full-time department chair in place, they all set about strengthening and enlarging the residency training program. He taught and practiced General Surgery at MUSC from 1965-1999. Over time, Bill rose through the faculty ranks, becoming Professor of General Surgery (1982-1999). Bill took on more administrative and especially teaching roles, serving for a time as Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, Assistant Dean for Admissions, and, closest to his heart, from 1975-1996, Director of Undergraduate Medical Education for the Core Surgery Course at MUSC, and also, from 1965-1999, served as Chief, Surgical Services, Charleston Memorial Hospital (MUSC), which historically provided care to the uninsured and the underinsured.

As a Professor, Bill was a member of a number of academic associations, including the Association for Surgical Education, the South Carolina Infectious Disease Society, and the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract. Bill served as Secretary of the South Carolina Surgical Society, and later as its President. In 1967, he was a participant in the U.S.A.I.D. Medical Assistance Program of the Agency for International Development. For two months, Bill and two accompanying MUSC resident physicians traveled to South Vietnam, where he mentored and supervised them as the three of them provided surgical care to civilians at Danang General Hospital. (Local South Vietnamese physicians were serving in the military because of the ongoing war.) Later in his teaching career, Bill for six years annually traveled alternately to Malaysia and Kenya to direct and lecture CMDA continuing surgical education courses for physicians who were living and serving long-term in those areas of the world.

Bill was awarded multiple teaching awards over the years by the student body at MUSC and was best described by most as “kind,” “patient,” and “a gentleman.” He was loved and admired by many, including his close-knit Operating Team at the Charleston Memorial Hospital, whom he always credited with urging him to date his second wife, Lydia Engelhardt. (Lydia at the time was an Ob/Gyn resident at MUSC, and doing a Gyn “rotation” at CMH.) Bill had sadly been widowed the year before, and knowing him well, his O.R. team sensed he was ready to begin again. Lydia was "swept off her feet" by his intelligence, charm, and his character, and they married that same year, in 1983. By then, William and Tim were already off to college, returning home for holidays and school breaks. Time passed, and then Louise and Frank flew the nest, off to college and onward. He was so proud of all four. Bill continued teaching and practicing at MUSC, while Lydia subsequently joined two of her Ob/Gyn fellow residents in practice in Mt. Pleasant.

Eventually, Bill began contemplating retirement, as the art and practice of medicine was becoming overtaken by paperwork, insurance forms, bureaucracy, etc. So they both retired, with Lydia leaving her private practice, to begin what they called “long-term short-term volunteer medical mission work” overseas, in underserved areas. They were blessed to be able to do that work for almost 15 years, through the very well-organized Christian group World Medical Mission. WMM is a medical relief offshoot of Samaritan’s Purse and helps match volunteer board-certified physicians with hospitals around the world. They were able to deliver surgical and gynecologic care to the neediest patients in multiple countries. Bill, along with Lydia, was later awarded two national awards for their work reaching the unreached. In his characteristic manner, Bill never mentioned the awards, and they still are in a closet, not displayed on a wall.

And along the way, there arrived 12 wonderful grandchildren, to visit and watch grow, and enjoy even more after a “second retirement”!

Bill was predeceased by his first wife, Sara Williamson Rambo, his parents, Victor and Louise Rambo, and his siblings, Helen R. Walters, Birch, and Tom. He is survived by his beloved wife of 42 years, Lydia Engelhardt; his sister, Barbara R. Hoshiko; his children, William, Jr. (Lee), Tim (Lou), Louise R. King (Caleb King), and Frank (E.D.); and the wonderful grands: Sara K. Treat (Logan Treat), Hannah King (Gurney Buchanan), Caleb King, Jr. (Emma F. King), Lydia King, Lt. Moses King, Lt. Jacob Rambo, Lucas Rambo, Elizabeth Rambo, Will Rambo, James Rambo, Nell Rambo, and Josephine Rambo; and many nephews, nieces, and extended family.

Bill was a man of great faith, having accepted Christ at a young age. He was a long time member of St. Andrew's Church in Mt. Pleasant, often serving on Vestry and teaching Sunday School. His highly principled life, his humility, and kind, loving manner always mirrored his Faith. Bill’s was a life well-lived. His absence here is mourned by family and friends, near and far, as his kindness, intellect, and wit are missed, but not forgotten.

Donations in his honor could be made to PAACS (the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons), P.O. Box 735262, Dallas, TX 75373-5262 or, the MUSC Foundation, William Rambo, M.D. Global Surgery Fund, 18 Bee St., Charleston, SC 29425.

A Memorial Service will be held in the Ministry Center at St. Andrews Church, 440 Whilden Street, Mt. Pleasant, on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at 2:00 p.m.

Arrangements are by J. Henry Stuhr, Inc., Mount Pleasant Chapel. A memorial message may be sent to the family on our website at www.jhenrystuhr.com