The Rev. Dr. Richard M. Robertson weighed only 3 pounds when he was born at home in Petersburg in 1911.

"It was a miracle he survived in the first place," said a son, Richard H. Robertson of Chesterfield.

"His mother used to talk about carrying him around on a pillow, he was so small. The only thing he could tolerate was goat's milk, so my grandfather went out and bought a goat."

Mr. Robertson was destined to become a minister, his son thought.

"He used to climb up on the garage roof and conduct church services for the family and neighbors. He was in high school when he made the final decision to go into the ministry," he said.

Friends and family will celebrate the life of the 96-year-old retired pastor, who served in the Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church for 43 years, at a memorial service Saturday.

The service will be held at Beulah United Methodist Church, 6930 Hopkins Road. A private burial will be held in Sunset Memorial Park in Chester.

In failing health since suffering a heart attack, he died in a Chesterfield nursing home on Monday.

The eldest of six children, he grew up during the Depression and had to work a year before earning enough money to attend Randolph-Macon College, where he earned his bachelor's degree. Lacking funds to reside in a dormitory, he cobbled a network of rides to school in Ashland using trolleys and trains for four years.

He earned his divinity degree at Emory University, where he worked in the library.

Mr. Robertson began his ministry in 1938 in the Surry Charge and then served as associate pastor at Centenary Church in Richmond. During a district youth meeting he finagled an introduction to a young woman named Ruth Hood and later obtained her phone number. They were married almost 60 years before her death in 2002.

He served at Market Church in Onancock and Laurel Hill Church in Varina before serving for a year as director of adult work for the conference and then returned to leading churches.

"My father was definitely a people person. His strength was loving people," his son said.

He served at Main Street Church in Bedford, Dulin Church in Falls Church, Boulevard Church in Richmond, Raleigh Court Church in Roanoke, Washington Street Church in Alexandria and First Church in Newport News, where he retired in 1981. He served as minister of visitation at Beulah Church until 1992.

Survivors, besides his son, include a daughter, Ruth Anne Curtin of Springfield; another son, David M. Robertson of Alexandria; and six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.