Page 33

Lowden's Doctors

    I remember when Lowden had three Doctors.

     First, there was Dr. Rabe. Neat, dapper, small Dr Rabe, with a wife to match. Kind Dr. Rabe and his quiet little wife. He with his small gray clipped mustache and arm bands – always a gray suit with a vest and a tie. She always seemed to have some needlework in her hands. They lived in the former John Petersen residence at 503 Washington Ave. – which explains why there are still two front doors – one going into their living quarters, the other into his office.

     Then there was Dr. Charlton. Tall, stately Dr. Charlton, also with a wife to match! Dr. Charlton always wore a dark suit with a derby hat. He was a very stern, dignified man, almost to the point of being mysterious. I remember Mrs Charlton as constantly cleaning and their home smelled of antiseptics. His office was also in their home.

     And then, I remember when Dr. Montz came to town. Young, Modern Doc Montz and his young nurse-wife Molly, with their new ideas. Would you believe they put their baby son (Robert) out to sleep in his carriage in the fresh air! Old folks shook their heads in disbelief. Such new-fangled ideas. About the same time Dr. Rabe retired. So that left two Doctors.

     Dr. Montz and Molly soon proved to fit into the community and the new ideas were accepted because they worked, and their energy and youth were the best things going for the town as Dr. Charlton gradually gave up his practice due to the infirmities of old age.

     As in so many small towns, Lowden can think of the days of having its own medical care with nostalgia. Small town Doctors are very rare indeed. Or will we some day go full circle and see a return to the personal relationship of not just Doctor and patient, but Doctor and friend?

              Mrs Emile (Hazel Sennett) Koranda

* ~ * ~ *

I REMEMBER -

. . . . . the day after the important Sunday School Picnic in the timber next to us. It was clean up day. Walking the grounds with a stick with a nail on the end picking up paper might reveal a lost dime or nickel; our reward for the work! The men were always busy with the weightier task of returning all the borrowed planks and lumber that had been used to build the tables and stands where the food was sold. The chairs that seated the people for the church services and the concert of the community band, also had to be returned. The hearty participation in the games planned for old and young made all the hard work worth the effort. Zion's Sunday School picnic held so close to the beloved Dist. No. 2 country school, makes this a special remembering for me.

              Mrs LeRoy (Esther Strackbein) Boettger