Former local resident earns Distinguished Eagle Award

Dr. K. Max Eakin, a former Bell City, Mo., resident, and family physician and partner in Family Physicians of Madison County, was selected to receive the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award at a reception Sept. 9 at the Gateway Convention Center in Collinsville, Ill.

Eakin graduated from high school as valedictorian, earned his bachelor of science degree from Southeast Missouri State University and his medical doctor degree in 1978 from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo.

Eakin, the second recipient of this honor from Trails West Council, was selected for excellence in his career pursuits reflecting Scout values. Only about 1,600 men have been honored in this manner, including astronaut Neil Armstrong and former president Gerald Ford.

Eligibility includes receipt of the Eagle Scout Award not less than 20 years prior to the nomination. Eakin earned the Eagle Scout Award in 1969 and has been active as an adult in Scouting for more than 20 years. He served in the local troop as committee chairman and is currently the president of Trails West Council.

Eakin and his wife, Linda, live in Glen Carbon, Ill. They have two sons, Robert and Casey, both Eagle Scouts.