17 years his life revolved around how to subvert his wife's efforts to stop his drinking and obtain the alcohol he craved while trying to hold together a medical practice in order to support his family and his drinking. Meeting Bill Wilson In January 1933, Bob Smith attended a lecture by Frank Buchman, the founder of the Oxford Group. For the next two years he and Smith attended local meetings of the group in an effort to solve his alcoholism, but recovery eluded him until he met Bill Wilson on May 12, 1935. Wilson was an alcoholic who had learned how to stay sober, thus far only for some limited amounts of time, through the Oxford Group in New York, and was close to discovering long-term sobriety by helping other alcoholics. Wilson was in Akron on business that had proven unsuccessful and he was in fear of relapsing. Recognizing the danger, he made inquiries about any local alcoholics he could talk to and was referred to Smith by Henrietta Seiberling, one of the leaders of the Akron Oxford Group. After talking to Wilson, Smith stopped drinking and invited Wilson to stay at his home. He relapsed almost a month later while attending a professional convention in Atlantic City. Returning to Akron on June 9, he was given a few drinks by Wilson to avoid delirium tremens. He drank one beer the next morning to settle his nerves so he could perform an operation, which proved to be the last alcoholic drink he would ever have. The date, June 10, 1935, is celebrated as the anniversary of the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous. Final years Smith was called the "Prince of Twelfth Steppers" by Wilson because he helped more than 5000 alcoholics before his death. He was able to stay sober from June 10, 1935, until his death in 1950 from colon cancer. He is buried at the Mount Peace Cemetery in Akron, Ohio. See also History of Alcoholics Anonymous Bill W. and Dr. Bob St. Thomas Hospital (Akron, Ohio) Sister Ignatia References Bibliography Further reading Alcoholics Anonymous. Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers: a Biography, with Recollections of Early A.A. in the Midwest. New York: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, 1980. N.B.: No identification of individual author(s) or editor(s) of the text is made. External links "Dr Bob's Home" website, Akron, Ohio 1879 births 1950 deaths Alcoholics Anonymous American colorectal surgeons Dartmouth