4096153820.jpg &&& ARLINGTON — Most folks don’t like waiting to see the doctor. Ben Robert Keller Jr.’s patients apparently didn’t mind, even if it took hours. "They knew when they finally got to see him, they were going to get a lot of his time and expertise," said golfing buddy and recently retired pediatrician Robert K. Portman Jr. "He gave everyone a lot of time."In fact, the obstetrician-gynecologist, who died in Dallas on July18, was so highly regarded that some of his patients wouldn’t see any other doctor — even though they were men."He cared desperately about people," said wife Anne Keller. "He saw some male patients because they wouldn’t see anyone else."Dr. Keller was born in a shotgun house in Big Spring, where his father was a wildcatter in the West Texas oil fields. He graduated from Lamar High School in Houston and from the University of Texas at Austin, where he originally intended to go into communications."He had an awesome voice," Anne Keller said. "Kind of a radio announcer’s voice."But he ended up making medicine his professional choice, graduating from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas in 1961.Dr. Keller became chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, and in 1967 set up a practice on Park Row Drive in Arlington. Over the years, he delivered more than 3,000 babies and helped spearhead the effort to encourage women to get regular Pap tests. "He was very busy," daughter Amy Keller said. "I loved my father but I hated his pager."But his medical practice, his love of classical music and opera, didn’t make Dr. Ben, as many knew him, a stranger to his children."He was such a cut-up." Amy Keller said, recalling the times her dad jumped into the pool at Rolling Hills Country Club to join the fun. "He’d be the shark and we’d be the mermaids who had to escape."The country club was also the scene of his regular Friday night poker game. Dr. Keller also loved to visit Las Vegas and Hawaii. But although he loved to travel, Texas was home. His wife managed to fly him back from Hawaii during his final illness so that he could be in Texas at the end."He so wanted to die on Texas soil," Anne Keller said. "He died peacefully."Other survivors include daughters Gwenyth Wood and Jennifer Keller, son Ben Robert Keller III and step-daughters Jill Henderson and Julie Hinds. Memorial service 2 p.m. Aug. 3 at Rolling Hills Country Club, 401 E. Lamar Blvd., Arlington