Dr. John Walter Torbett was a prominent physician and poet who devoted his time and energy to the healing of others and service to the Methodist Church. Dr. Torbett was born near Jacksonville, Texas in 1871, and received his B.S. from Centenary College in Lampasas in 1891. Soon after being diagnosed with malaria, he built the Bethesda Bathhouse for the treatment of chronic diseases and thereafter established Marlin, Texas as a health resort. Dr. Torbett was a life member of the American College of Physicians and served as president of what is now called the American Congress of Physical Therapy. A devout Methodist, Dr. Torbett was a founder and board member of Southern Methodist University, chairman of the Marlin Methodist Church and chairman of the Methodist Orphans Home. In recognition of his devotion to medicine and faith, SMU was honored to confer upon Dr. John Walter Torbett the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa.

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