Dr. Edwin R. Lindner of Dodgeville – WVMA
President 1986
In 1984, I was approached to submit my name
to be placed in nomination for president-elect of the WVMA. I won the election, and represented the WVMA
as president-elect in 1985, and president in 1986. That was the last year the long-time
executive secretary of the association, Dr. Bill O’Rourke, was to serve. There was some strong opposition over the
years to Dr. O’Rourke’s management of the WVMA, specifically in the northwestern part of the
state. The WVMA office was located in
the base-ment of the Joyce Funeral Home, which he owned, and had a budget of
from $15,000 to $20,000 per year. There
were veterinarians concerned about the image that the location of the office
portrayed. Dr. O’Rourke also stepped on enough toes over the years
to have a group calling for a reorganization. Bill fought this opposition for a number of years, was at the age of
retirement, and was losing his stamina for battle. He submitted his resignation to be effective
in 1987. This coincided with the end of
my term as president.
I was quite
involved during evolution of management changes, Dr. Alan Lippart from
Markesan, Wi was one of the applicants.
He proposed moving the office to Markesan and had the support of the
Northwestern VMA. As Bill was leaving
the executive secretary’s position with some detractors, Alan would have come
aboard with his own set of baggage, for those who supported Bill were opposed
to Dr. Lippart. Also, some veterinarians
supported the concept of having a non-veterinarian as executive director. As
many surrounding states had done.
We advertised for a half-time position.
There were many applicants and, after considerable discussion in an all-day session,
the field was narrowed to Dr. Lippart, the executive director of the Wisconsin
Medical Society (both suggesting a salary of $50,000 to $60,000 per year) and
Ms. Leslie Schoenfeld. Leslie came to
the interview and applied for full-time person and that she was the person to
fill that position. Late in the
afternoon a vote was taken to narrow the field to two candidates and the
Wisconsin Medical Society Executive Secretary was eliminated, leaving Dr.
Lippart and Leslie to compete for the job.
Leslie actually won the job by default , for those on the committee
opposed to Dr. Lippart had only one other choice. The rest is history.
One of my
concerns at the time of running for president-elect was the lack of interest of
recent graduates in organized veterinary medicine and the lack of membership in
the WVMA from the faculty of the recently established School of Veterinary
Medicine. I directed some of my efforts
to promoting my concerns and did improve the membership rate at the
University. It still concerns me that
many younger veterinarians do not seem as interested in organized veterinary
medicine, but I’m not sure it is any more of a problem today than it was in
1986.
Personal information
I was born
in 1933 and was raised on a dairy farm near Waverly, Iowa. My first six years
of school were spent in a one-room country school one mile directly south of my
home if I walked across the field. I graduated from Waverly High School in 1951
and started college that fall at Wartburg College, located in Waverly, with no
interest in becoming a veterinarian. My interests were definitely in the
scientific arena, particularly biology. I wanted to become a pilot in the US
Navy and needed at least two years of college to have a chance of being
accepted into the program. In the spring of my sophomore year my undergraduate
studies were interrupted by the Korean War.
I was going
to be drafted at the end of my sophomore year and learned when taking my army
physical that I was partially colorblind. I enlisted in the Navy prior to being
drafted, hoping that the Navy needed pilots bad enough to ignore the color
requirements, as I was only partially colorblind. Such was not the case and I
spent my four-year naval career as an aerographer's mate (weatherman).
Upon discharge, I returned to Wartburg College with a
more serious academic attitude and a hope of finding a rewarding career. I
selected a major in wildlife biology. A professor who was completing his PhD
thesis in wildlife biology taught one of my junior year classes. In my
after-class discussions during the semester, he realized that my idea of what a wildlife
biologist did was not accurate and suggested I consider getting a doctorate in
veterinary medicine and then pursue my interest in wildlife biology. After some
thought I, too, realized that my interests definitely paralleled those of a
veterinarian. I switched to a pre-vet curriculum, completed the required course
work, applied and was accepted to veterinary school at Iowa State University. I
never returned to pursue my interest in wildlife biology on a professional
level, but my main extracurricular activities are still hunting and fishing.
When home on
leave during the spring of 1957, I met a very interesting young lady from
Waterloo, IA whom I actively pursued during my junior and senior years at
Wartburg. Upon receiving my acceptance letter to the College of Veterinary
Medicine, I proposed to Miss Pat Fowler and, to my good fortune, she accepted.
In the first
class on the first day of veterinary school, Dr. Bowen, our histology
instructor, walked into the room, looked up and said, "Look at the man on
your right, now look at the man on your left. At the end of this semester one
of them will not be here." I started veterinary school with little
confidence in my ability to compete and, after my first anatomy test, I lost
all confidence, for I was second from the bottom in the class and remembered
Dr. Bowen's comments well!
My wife was
very supportive, however, and reminded me that there were other careers. She
said, "We can always run a root beer stand!" (She dearly loves root
beer!)
My wife, Pat, has been by my side during
this whole adventure and was equally active in the WVMA Auxiliary. She served
on many committees in the Auxiliary and was their President in 1982. She also
typed all of my correspondence, attended a lot of functions, and has been my
soul mate all of these year, as well as the mother of our children.
I am very proud
of my family. I truly have been blessed with a wonderful wife, three beautiful
daughters, a super son-in-law, and two marvelous granddaughters.
Entering veterinary practice
I graduated
from ISU in 1963, ranking 10th in my class of 58 and began my professional
career as an employee of Dr. Kent Dowding of Warren, IL. I was fortunate to
start my career with Dr. Dowding, for not only was he a fine veterinarian, but
was also active in the Northern Illinois Veterinary Medical Association. In the two
years that I spent in Warren, I met and was guided by some very fine
veterinarians such as Dr. D.W. Rawson, the father of Dr. Chet Rawson of Hazel
Green, WI.
After two
years in Warren I was unable to come to a business agreement with Dr. Dowding
and began looking for a new challenge in veterinary medicine. I found that
opportunity in Dodgeville, WI joining Dr. Wallace Rogers in 1965. I will
complete my veterinary career in Dodgeville at the end of this day (June 30,
1997).
Dr. Rogers
is a very astute and aggressive businessman. We had been in Dodgeville for only
two years when he suggested that we purchase the practice of Dr. Jim Wilson, an
elderly veterinarian who also practiced in Dodgeville and hire his classmate
and friend, Dr. John Samuelson. Dr. Rogers' comment was "We need to get
him before he gets settled." I wasn't quite so sure, being deeply in debt
and just getting my feet on the ground, but we made an offer. Dr. John
Samuelson joined the practice in 1967 and all my worries were for naught. Dr.
Samuelson became our partner a year later and he is also retiring from the
Dodgeville Veterinary Service today.
Training students
In 1973 two
veterinary students stopped by to look at the veterinary clinic which we built
three years previously. They were impressed with the facilities and the
reception they received. When they returned to Iowa State University they told
one of their classmates of their experience. Jim Stein contacted the clinic
shortly thereafter and asked if we ever considered having preceptors in our
practice. We always felt that we had a responsibility to our profession to help
students, as some veterinarians had once helped us. This led to a long and
rewarding experience in teaching veterinary students.
The year was 1973 and today in 1997 we are one of the
preceptor practices contracting with the University of Wisconsin Veterinary
School to teach ambulatory clinics. Over these past twenty-five years, we have
also had students from England, Spain, Austria, Solvenia, Japan and Portugal,
as well as students from many of the universities in the U.S. and Canada It has
been fun to watch them grow in their veterinary careers. However, it is a
little sobering to watch the student pass the teacher in their accomplishments!
One of the
students from our 1974 class of preceptors from the ISU was Peter Vanderloo.
Our practice was growing and we knew we had to expand our professional staff in
the near future. Peter so impressed us that, although he had a three-year
commitment to the US Army. We waited until 1978 and persuaded him and his
growing family to join our practice in Dodgeville. He was well worth the wait
and will be giving an interview later today as a past president of the WVMA.
It was ten
years later in 1987 that we added the fifth veterinarian to our practice. Paul
McGraw is the son of one of our very good clients. Paul knew he wanted to be a
veterinarian when he was very young. He rode on calls with me all through high
school, pre-vet and veterinary school. He dated my daughter during his junior
and senior years (I tell him, "If I had known you better I would never had
allowed it!"), was valedictorian of his class while winning the state
wrestling tournament in his weight class.
We planned
to make him the fifth veterinarian upon his graduation, which we did. Dr.
McGraw has since moved and started his own practice in Darien, WI. Dr. Alan
Holter, an Iowa State University graduate, and also a former preceptor,
replaced Paul. He developed a very active small animal practice in Dodgeville
because of his professional abilities and excellent communicative skills. He is
the son of a veterinarian who spent his career as a diagnostician at Iowa State
University Diagnostic Laboratory.
My professional interests have been in reproduction and
herd health. When I came to Dodgeville I was competent to diagnose a sixty-day
pregnancy, but not much else. As my reproductive herd health practice grew, so
did my skills and, by the mid 1970s, I had approximately 90 plus herds that I
visited monthly. My schedule was filled and we were looking forward to the
arrival of Dr. Peter Vanderloo to absorb the overflow. We have continued to
expand the reproduction aspect of the practice by offering breeding soundness evaluations
for bulls in the early 1980s. This has now grown into a respectable practice,
with about 200 bulls tested annually.
Organized veterinary medicine
My
involvement in organized veterinary medicine began shortly after I moved to
Dodgeville and was asked to serve as treasurer of the SW Veterinary Medical
Association. This led to the position of president-elect and then president of
this group. I followed Dr. Kent Fletcher as the SWVMA's representative to the
WVMA Executive Board and served on the Board for four years.
Because of
my interest in reproduction, I joined the Society for Theriogenology in 1976.
In 1979 I was elected to serve on the board of directors for the Society and
served on that board for seven years. I was appointed by the Board members to
act as the Secretary-Treasurer for the Society in 1981-82, as Vice-President in
1982-83, and as President of the Society in 1983-84. During my year as
President, the Society was admitted to the AVMA House of Delegates. I was named
the Society's delegate to the AVMA House of Delegates for a six-year term.
Following my term as delegate, I was asked to represent the Society on the
AVMA's Animal Agri-Liaison Committee. I served on this committee from 1990
through 1996.
During my presidency
In 1984 I
was approached to submit my name to be placed in nomination for president-elect
of The WVMA I won the election, and represented the WVMA as president-elect in
1985, and president in 1986. That was the last year the long-time executive
secretary of the association, Dr. Bill O'Rourke, was to serve.
Finding an executive director
There was
some strong opposition over the years to Dr. O’Rourke’s management of the WVMA,
specifically in the northwestern part of the state. The WVMA office was located
in the basement of the Joyce Funeral Home, which he owned, and had a budget of
from $15,000 to $20,000 per year. There were veterinarians concerned about the
image that the location of the office portrayed. Dr. O'Rourke also stepped on
enough toes over the years to have a group calling for a reorganization. Bill
fought this opposition for a number of years, was at the age of retirement, and
was losing his stamina for battle. He submitted his resignation to be effective
in 1987. This coincided with the end of my term as president.
I was quite involved during evolution of management
changes. Dr. Alan Lippart from Markesan, WI was one of the applicants. He
proposed moving the office to Markesan and had the support of the Northwestern
VMA. As Bill was leaving the executive secretary’s position with some
detractors, Alan would have come aboard with his own set of baggage, for those
who supported Bill were opposed to Dr. Lippart. Also, some veterinarians
supported the concept of having a non-veterinarian as executive director, as
many surrounding states had done.
We
advertised for a half-time position. There were many applicants and, after
considerable discussion in an all-day session, the field was narrowed to Dr.
Lippart, the executive director of the Wisconsin Medical Society (both
suggesting a salary of $50,000 to $60,000 per year) and Ms. Leslie Schoenfeld.
Leslie came to the interview and applied for a fulltime job, even though it was
advertised as a half-time position, for she felt we needed a full-time person
and that she was the person to fill that position. Late in the afternoon a vote
was taken to narrow the field to two candidates and the Wisconsin Medical
Society Executive Secretary was eliminated, leaving Dr. Lippart and Leslie to
compete for the job. Leslie actually won the job by default, for those on the
committee opposed to Dr. Lippart had only one other choice. The rest is
history.
Concerns
One of my
concerns at the time of running for president-elect was the lack of interest of
recent graduates in organized veterinary medicine and the lack of membership in
the WVMA from the faculty of the recently established School of Veterinary
Medicine. I directed some of my efforts to promoting my concerns and did improve the membership rate at the
University. It still concerns me that many younger veterinarians do not seem as
interested in organized veterinary medicine, but I'm not sure it is any more of
a problem today than it was in 1986.
Final thoughts
I remember
well the fun times and relationships that were developed at the local
association meetings. I miss those relationships and do not see them developing
at today’s local association meetings. However, what you never knew you never
miss and I think veterinary medicine will survive in spite of what I think and
what I have or have not done.
Veterinary
medicine has been a wonderful career choice. I have enjoyed practice, except
for certain times when you are stripped to the waist in sub-zero weather up to
your armpit replacing a prolapsed uterus or delivering a calf. I may have, at
that time, questioned the wisdom of this career! However, there is always the
bright side. The arm in the cow was nice and warm!
Like all
over professions, veterinary medicine is also changing. I am the outside
director for the Farm Credit Association and see the business of agriculture
from a different perspective. Farms are getting larger. There is more
competition and the profits are getting smaller. This is not a bad change, but
it is a change, and I would guess not too different from the evolution that
occurred at the demise of the workhorse. Veterinarians at that time had to
change their way of practice as much as today, maybe even more so. But each
change provided new opportunities and, from the quality of students that have
been passing through our doors at the clinic for the past years, I think
veterinary medicine is in good hands. I would like to think that I may have
contributed just a little to veterinary medicine and maybe assisted in clearing
and maintaining a path for future leaders to follow.
I hope that
veterinary medicine remains the great profession that has provided me with a
wonderful lifetime career.
I was also
deeply honored in 1989 to have been presented the Veterinarian of the Year
Award. To be recognized by your peers in such a manner was truly a special time
in my life. I was also given the Meritorious Service Award in 1987 for my
contribution to the WVMA, which I also treasure.
In just four
hours I will end my days as a paid full-time veterinarian with Dodgeville
Veterinary Service. I feel so fortunate to have lived and worked for the past
thirty years in one of the most beautiful areas in the U.S. I have worked with
a group of people, both lay and professional, who have made my practice years a
joy. I whistled the day I started my practice career and I am still whistling
the last day of active practice. God has truly guided my life into a profession
that has been fulfilling emotionally, physically and materially.
Interviewers comments - I just want to add a couple
things to show you how active this gentleman has been. He was a member of the
House of Delegates for the AVMA for six years and really enjoyed it. He also
has been a member of the Society for Theriogenologists for 20 years and he was
on the board of directors of that organization for eight years and a president
for one year, so I've truly been talking with a gentleman who has attained
great respect within the profession. I just wanted to add that to the tape.
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