Dr. Maximo Lopez (Mackie) Cuesta of Roanoke, Va., passed away on April 27, 2018. He was born in Manila, Philippines on November 18, 1933. Mackie’s parents were Dr. Jesus Cuesta and Cristeta Lopez.

Mackie was raised in Manila by his adopted parents, Senator/Governor Sotero Baluyut and Encarnacion Lopez Baluyut. He attended the University of Santo Tomas (UST) and received his Doctorate in Medicine in 1957. After graduation, he was named Assistant Medical Officer at the Civil Aeronautics Administration, Department of Public Works and Communications, in Manila. In 1960, he moved to the United States for post-graduate training.

He completed his internship in Chicago in 1961. Mackie then did his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics and at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Chicago, and then at Florence Crittenton General Hospital in Detroit. He then moved to Montreal, Canada in 1964, and did his residency in Surgery at Queen Mary Veteran’s Hospital in 1967. Mackie returned to the United States in 1968 and was appointed Chief Resident in OB-GYN at Prince George’s General Hospital in Cheverly, Md. He was then appointed as Full-time Educational Coordinator in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, with training affiliation at the University of Maryland. Mackie settled down in Roanoke, Va., in 1973. He started his hospital-based practice in OB-GYN at Burrell Memorial Hospital and at Roanoke Memorial Hospital. Mackie became Chief of the Department of OB-GYN and then President of the Medical Staff at Burrell Memorial. In 1979, he was appointed Associate Director of OB-GYN at Roanoke Memorial Hospital, and Assistant Professor of the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Mackie gained full professorship at the University of Virginia (UVA) in 1992. He retired in 2003.

Mackie delivered thousands of babies and cared for hundreds of women and mothers over the years. He had the distinction of being the first and only doctor who delivered the first and only Siamese twins in Roanoke. Mackie is considered the “Godfather of Roanoke” by the Roanoke Filipino community. He was the past President and Member of the Board of both the Philippine American Association of Roanoke Valley (PAARV) and the Foundation of Southwest Virginia Association of Philippine Physicians (FSWVAPP).