David Verle Rodgers, one of five children born to Don E. and Nanny L. Rodgers, graduated from Gorman High School in 1927, studied at Weatherford Junior College, Hardin-Simmons University, McMurry College in Abilene, and Texas Tech, and married Buryl Blackwell in 1932. Before entering medical school at the urging of his father-in-law, Dr. George Blackwell, he taught school at Alameda and was active in church as a Sunday school teacher. He graduated from Baylor Medical School in 1937, served his internship at Baptist Hospital in New Orleans, and began general practice in Gorman in 1938. In 1943 Blackwell Hospital completed its third floor and installed an electric elevator, and a fourth floor was added in 1947. During thirty-three years at Blackwell Hospital and Clinic, he cared for countless families through clinic work, hospital rounds, surgery, and house calls at all hours. He also served as a director of First National Bank, worked as a rancher, played bridge, and served on the school board from 1945 to 1953, when severe heart trouble nearly took his life. By 1965 he was credited with delivering more than 8,300 babies, including three of his four children, one daughter-in-law, and seven of his eight grandchildren, and his medical practice touched almost every person in Gorman and the surrounding area. In June 1965 the citizens of Gorman proclaimed a Dr. D.V. Rodgers Appreciation Week. He died in an automobile accident on January 3, 1971.