Veterinarian Overview
I spent my teenage years on a small dairy in Northern Virginia, where I decided I wanted to be a veterinarian. Then in 1948 while working as a carpenter in Southern California, I joined the National Guard rather than sign up for a tour with the regular Army. Uncle Sam then gave me a free tour of Japan and Korea when the peace action broke out in 1950. Thus it happened that my first patients were human. As an Assistant Battalion Surgeon (Army classification), I was in charge of a platoon of medics. I came home with a Bronze Star (for meritus service); I could have had a Purple Heart, but my injury was minor, and I was too embarrassed about where I got hit to share it with my aid men.As a result of this experience, I was able to attend University of California at Davis and able to be accepted on my first application to Veterinary School. Graduating in 1958, I started my own practice in Madera and for four years, just about starved. Taking advantage of an opportunity to work in the pharmaceutical industry, I became a technical expert in the nutritional area. I toured the midwest from Kansas in the West, Minnesota in the North and Pennsylvania in the East giving lectures to veterinary associations and assistance to individual practitioners. When my father-in-law died, we moved back to California and I began a mixed practice (large and small animals).In 1973 the late Dr. Donald Barr cut his fingers with a power saw while working on a community service project (we have a long history of community service) I came to town to do his surgeries. I never got away. In 1975 , the newly widowed Dr. Esme Wood joined my practice and in 1983 we married. We have shared many experiences, both good and bad, including both of us losing our spleens in motorcycle accidents. She was my chief advisor and critic. She died of pneumonia in November of 2013, but left me determinded to fulfill our mission.
