Theresa Robinson Buck

Theresa "Teddy" Robinson Buck (25 May 1912 – 25 September 1964) was an American-born Southern Rhodesian missionary. She trained as a nurse in the United States before being commissioned as a missionary to Southern Rhodesia in 1938. Buck worked in hospitals in Mount Selinda and Chikore, becoming sister-in-charge of both. After her death the Chikore hospital was renamed in her honour.

Life Born in Hartford, Connecticut on 25 May 1912, Buck was the daughter of Dr Charles Buck of Naples, Maine and appears to have grown up there. At the age of 12, Buck declared that she wanted to become a nurse and a missionary. She was active in extra-curricular societies being publicity chairman of the college's branch of the Young Women's Christian Organisation and a member of the Christian Service Club. By this time she was known as "Teddy" and had a reputation for being talented at art. Buck returned to Hartford to attend the Kennedy School of Missions and was commissioned as a missionary in March 1938. In 1959 Buck was made sister-in-charge of the Cottage Hospital and Dispensary at Chikore, a position she held until her death.

Buck died on 25 September 1964 in Chikore. The Maine Conference of the United Church of Christ donated a bell from a disused church in Gilead to the Chikore Hospital Chapel in memory of Buck and later raised funds towards a new steriliser for the hospital.