Dr. Philip Bartholomew, 78, known as ‘Dr. B.’

That meant listening to their concerns, offering advice and family counseling, and being available for them, day or night.

Margaret Bartholomew, his wife of 54 years, said for 30 years, Dr. B. would receive an average of five after-hours calls a week from his patients. And some of those calls would come as the couple and their three children were enjoying dinner.

“He would sit right next to the table while we were eating, and he would discuss all sorts of cases. So we all have fairly tough stomachs,” Mrs. Bartholomew quipped.

Dr. Philip R. Bartholomew, 78, of Sandy Springs died Aug. 17 after a long illness and from complications from pneumonia at the Altus Hospice.

A celebration of his life will be at 2 p.m. Sept. 11 at the Fine Arts Center in Atlanta.

Byars Funeral Home and Cremation Services is in charge of arrangements.

Born in 1931, Dr. B. grew up near Emory University and graduated from Druid Hills High School. After earning his bachelor’s degree from Emory in 1954, young Mr. Bartholomew served in the U.S. Navy for four years.

In 1963, he received his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia, and in 1967, he entered private practice in Atlanta. He practiced until retiring in 1996.

Dr. B. followed in the tradition set by his father, Dr. Rudolph Bartholomew, who was one of only a few of OB/GYNs in Atlanta during World War II.

During office hours, Dr. B. was known for spending an abundance of time with his patients — and that endeared patients to him, Mrs. Bartholomew said.

But his time-consuming bedside manner had women stacking up in the waiting room.

“Often times, nurses would say to me, ‘We have a heck of a time keeping your daddy on schedule,” said son Phil Bartholomew Jr. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

But patients didn’t mind waiting for the chance to see Dr. B., said Dr. Lanier. “Women would sit there and wait for hours because they knew their time would come,” he said.

To improve efficiency, Dr. B. in the late 1970s designed more functional office space for the practice’s two offices at Northside Hospital and at Embry Hills in Chamblee.

“What he did was to help us understand the flow of patients was important,” Dr. Lanier said. “Patients could be moved along from waiting room to substation to exam room, so that things could be done along the way to make them feel like they weren’t waiting around for hours.”

Dr. B. had such a special place in his heart for those he cared for that he thought of them as more than patients, Dr. Lanier said.

“He knew them so well it was like a friend coming in,” he said.

In addition to his wife Margaret and son Philip Bartholomew Jr., survivors include a daughter, Lauren Luik of Whitehouse Station, N.J.; a son, J. Christian Bartholomew of Dunedin, Fla.; a sister, Gale B. Hill of Durham, N.C.; and six grandchildren.