Cradock Classmates:
The response to an inquiry about “Cradock Doctors” has been fun for everyone who participated. We had a lot to say, and most of it was good stuff.
The project began when in mid-March 2010 a genealogist relative of Dr. Sidney Tabor sent a note to Janie Norris Evans, our Cradock webmaster. This genealogist did not have a connection to Cradock, but he found Dr. Tabor by visiting the website. In the newsletters that Bob and Ruth Cutchins posted on the site, his relative Dr. Sidney Tabor was identified and discussed. That researcher went away happy. The biography he prepared for publication on the website about his relative is about Cradock’s first MD. Dr. Sidney Johnston Tabor's Bio
Janie tells story about a website visitor who had no idea some of his family lived in Cradock and was able to find the children, in the family he was researching, in our yearbooks (1940) section.
The http://cradock.org/ site provides hours of enjoyment to its visitors by taking them back to their younger years living in Cradock. Keep that memory alive and the enjoyment we all get from sharing and help people who do not have a Cradock connection by recording your stories on the website.
To post a Cradock memory on the site email the webmaster at cradock_webmaster@cox.net You may remain anonymous but please send your class year or at least the time you lived in Cradock.
A few days after the Dr. Tabor stories appeared on line, an inquiry was sent by email by Cradock Class Alumni points of contact and posted on the website. That inquiry was looking for stories about Cradock doctors, more than Dr. Tabor. There were more than a few doctors who treated us when we needed it back in the days of our youth. We were looking for stories and we have a few to share. They will be posted on line on the website soon.
Some of the Doctors we heard about were:
Dr. Sydney J. Tabor, who many of the fifties generation knew, was Cradock’s First Doctor. He was one of the first residents of Cradock in 1919.
Dr. Stanley H. Powell, an important presence in the Cradock community as well as in the Portsmouth Medical Community for many years. Dr. Powell’s obituary is published on the Cradock website Dr. Stanley H. Powell
Dr. Maurice R. Schlanger had his first office in his Cradock Gardens home on Tyron Place, but later he moved to a more prominent and upscale location at 80 Afton Parkway Office. The 1956 City Directory shows that Dr. Schlanger lived at 98 Channing Avenue. He died in the nineties and was memorialized by his many Portsmouth friends at a celebration in Admirals Landing.
Dr. Brooks L. Hargrove MD had an office at 58 Afton Parkway in what was known as the Cradock Professional Building and he lived in Cradock at 79 Farragut Street.
Dr. Tom Oast was a pediatrician. His office was in a still-standing tiny building on Dinwiddie Street behind Sears, Betty and Bob’s clothing store. He made house calls to Cradock until the late 1940’s.
Dr. Robert W. Adams DDS had an office in the Cradock Professional Building. He lived in Cradock at 50 Aylwin Road.
Dr. Augustine J Russo MD had an office downtown in the New Kirn Building. He lived on the corner of Burtis at 22 Bainbridge Street and made house calls for his Cradock patients.
Dr. Ernest Schweiger, MD had an office on Airline Blvd or Turnpike road at Alexander’s Corner. Dr. of all things from ingrown toenails to colds, flu, baby births, heart and ulcers and did home visits.
Dr. Grover Moore, MD had an office in Port Norfolk over a corner Pharmacy. He was a Seventh Day Adventist and worked on Sundays to serve his patients and made house calls.
Dr. Fleta Gregory, MD was a family physician, who practiced in a building at the corner of Elliot and McLean and served many who lived in the Highland Biltmore and Alexander Park area.
Please send more Doctor memories to bk at revelerbk@cox.net , who will continue to coordinate information about Cradock Doctors, or to the webmaster cradock_webmaster@cox.net
Cradock Student Responses about our Doctors:
The first message came from Mavis Daniels Tompkins Class of 1952, the class representative for CHS 1952. Mavis says, who would have thought that one little inquiry would develop into such a wonderful response from so many. This search for doctors has been a fun adventure.
I remember Dr. Schlanger very well. He is the doctor we used when we first moved to Cradock. In fact, he was the doctor who told my 40-year-old mother that she was pregnant. Our family loved him. My husband, Loren’s parents used Dr. Stanley Powell and named their third son after him...Dr. Stanley Powell Tomkins is now a dentist in Chesapeake.
There were other several other Cradock mothers of senior class girls having late in life babies in CHS 1952. Lois Dearmon’s mom and Margaret Ann Duke as well as my mother were in the group. My classmates and I had many good discussions about this and we were all thrilled. Due to my mother’s age Dr. Schlanger referred her to a OB-GYN specialist in Norfolk.
It is great that such good memories of these doctors have been brought to our attention by the Cradock website.
Mavis Daniels Tomkins (CHS 52)
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Dianne Spence Ferbee, another alumni point of contact says that Dr. Tom Oast was their family pediatrician and he made many calls to our house in Cradock. My husband Ralph’s mom and dad had Dr. Schlanger as their doctor. I did not know him very well but I remember going to see Dr. Oast in that tiny office just around the corner from Sears Betty and Bob Department Store, a great place for us girls to shop.
Dianne Spence Ferbee. (CHS 63)
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Katherine Powell says, all this week I have been with a good friend who is clinging to life in ICU at Sentara Leigh. He experienced a double embolism of the aorta and extensive surgery. His daughters and I are keeping watch over him. I appreciate your gathering information about my father. My brother James (Russ) Powell has much information about my father and I believe he could help you now whereas it is going to be some time before I could gather the information you would like to have. I will send his email address.
Katherine Powell (CHS 57)
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Russ Powell says: I gather you wanted some information about what it was like growing up with a doctor running the household. There are a mountain of memories to choose from. Some of my favorites though included some of the anecdotes he would tell about some of his patients and the home calls he used to make. Here are a few of them.
He once told the family about an unusual couple where the husband was the one usually coming to the office to be patched up after a severe beating delivered by his wife. He was a rather small stature man who married a tall and stocky women, with some anger management issues. He had come in with cracked ribs, black eyes, glass jaw, abrasions and lacerations. He sutured him up many times.
One day this sad sack brought in his wife to be treated. She was all disheveled, torn clothes, lacerations, bruising, and dirt and grass in her hair and clothes. While bandaging her up he had to ask about how she came to be in such a state. She responded that she had gotten furious with her husband and decided to blind side him with a flying tackle. She said that she charged and hurtled herself at her hapless husband but, “the damn son-of-a-bitch ducked,” and she hurtled through the window he was standing in front of. The next thing she knew, she was in the front yard having gone through the window, screen, and the bushes. Her meek husband came to her aid and brought her to the “doc”.
One winter day Papa’s car became stuck in the driveway. Following a freezing rain the vehicle was covered in ice. Compounding the problem several inches of snow had fallen blanketing the car. He said that he had gone out to try to move the car but it was locked firmly in place with ice. Upon reentering the house he got a phone call from a patient in Cradock who wanted him to come over and treat her sick husband suffering from a bad flu. Papa explained that he was stuck and suggested that she get her car nice and warm and then bundle up her husband and bring him over. She responded with, “No! I wouldn’t send a dog out on a day like this!” Papa chuckled and she retorted with, “What’s so funny!”
BABIES! They can come at any hour of the day or night. I remember many times Papa having to leave in the middle of the night to deliver a baby. I overhead him fussing a few times about having just gotten to sleep, couldn’t the baby have waited till he finished dinner, or saying something about how he was really enjoying some show or game on T.V. When I was very little a neighborhood friend told me that my Papa brought their new baby over in his black bag. I asked him if he had watched this. He said no, but his parents had told him that Dr. Powell had brought him in the black bag and now he had brought his sister the same way.
SICK BABIES and Little Kids! Apparently they can be quite a mess while being examined. Remember, my Papa’s office was attached to the house so he had easy access to a clean set of clothes whenever needed. I remember him rushing into the house quite upset. He was covered with vomit all over his shirt. I think this is one of the first time I ever heard of the expression “projectile vomiting”. You’d be amazed what can erupt from a body so small.
CARS and Cradock! Papa said that in the fifties one of the big hang outs was The Circle drive-in. About this time he indulged in a Porsche sports car. These were rare and appeared like a pathetic little shrimp of a car. I don’t know if my sister Katherine will admit to this, but she borrowed the Porsche to go to The Circle. Car aficionados would display that hot-rods and customized rides at the drive-in. Hoods would be raised to show off the gleaming engines, chrome, pipes, blowers, etc. Apparently, Katherine got a challenge or two with Papa’s Porsche. Behind Cradock, challenges would be accepted along the straightaway of Victory Boulevard. Apparently, Katherine blew away the challengers to this little Porsche.
One day, a police officer came in to see Papa and commented that he almost pulled over this odd little sports car. He said that it was flying down Victory Boulevard at way over a hundred mph. He had his cruiser close enough to see the bumper clearly. When he saw Papa’s green medical emblem for Maryview Hospital, he backed off figuring he was racing to the hospital on an emergency. I don’t know if Papa confided that it was Katherine. You have to admit she could handle a car. She could effortlessly shift the gears without using the clutch. I’m sure it was a very sad day for her when Papa sold that car.
World War II. I’m sure a few of the residents in Cradock didn’t like the fact that B-17 bombers would routinely buzz the neighborhood before heading on to Langley. Papa’s first wife, Alice, (Katherine’s mother) had a relative in the Army Air Corps who transported finished bombers to Hampton Roads for transport to the European theatre of war. Papa would give him a ride home after he delivered a plane. He didn’t bother to call from the field. Instead, he would drop low and fly over Cradock with the engines roaring. If it happened to be night, it would certainly wake Papa up and he could head on to the airfield to pick him up. I remember him saying that it would “rattle the windows”. I’m sure the neighbors didn’t mind a bit.
CONVENIENCE was having a doctor in the neighborhood. Especially in the summertime all kinds of “walking wounded” would wind up on the front stoop. Someone I knew showed up holding his arm and his face all reddened and streaked with tears. Papa had a packed office but he took him on back and checked him over. He had fallen off the monkey bars at the Cradock park and had dislocated his shoulder. He told him the best thing was him to hold tight while popped it back into the socket. You have to admit Papa was strong and fast. With a quick movement he had the shoulder back as it should. I remember seeing him at the park later and he said that he never felt such a relief than when that arm popped back in place. It seemed that in no time at all he was back on the monkey bars.
I've barely scratched the surface. There are many good memories of my Papa at work as the neighborhood doctor.
Russ Powell (Dr. Stanley Powell’s youngest child)
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Ray Orland writes, During the mid-fifties I went to a dentist (Dr. Sawyer) who lived in a big white house on George Washington Hwy. The house stood where the Burger King now stands. His office was downtown in the Professional building. He shared an office with Dr. Russo.
Ray Orland (CHS 63)
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Joyce Bragg Costa says, the only doctor I went to in Cradock was Dr. Stanley Powell.
I only remember two instances where he took care of me when I was probably a pre-teen or younger. The first time I had my right index finger slammed in a car door (by accident) and it really got swollen, quite discolored, and throbbing. Dr. Powell took something that looked like a miniature "drill" and literally drilled a hole in the fingernail and relieved the pressure. It got better after awhile and of course came off. Another nail grew but to this day, it never did grow like the other fingernails.
The second event was when I almost got hit by a car riding a bicycle (carrying a bag of groceries in one arm). I had to stop quickly at a cross street to avoid being hit by a car that was travelling fast. When I stopped the bike fell, the bag went one way and a metal part of the bicycle seat caught the inside of my left leg (the calf) and cut a neat 7" gash pretty deep as it fell. I ran fast home and my Father sat me on the side of the bath tub and rinsed the cut with cold water and wrapped it with a towel. Saying it was not a Band-Aid cut he took me to Dr. Powell's office (in his big white home on Afton Parkway) and The doctor stitched me up and I sported a long neat white bandage for about a week or maybe more. I still have that scar to remind me of when it happened.
That's what I remember of Dr. Powel, besides his white hair and how nice looking he was. He was a handsome man.
Joyce Bragg Costa (CHS 57)
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Loretta Willis Marshall send this tongue-in-cheek memory. It's a good thing someone is making a book of "memories" about a vanishing breed of Americana, doctors! As for our childhood doctor, we were too poor to have one and my dad pulled all our teeth with a pair of pliers ~ that is, the ones he didn't knock out for the slightest incidence of disobedience. And didn't "natural childbirth" mean, it just popped out? Or did a stork drop it? Well, no stork would be required to lift something heavier than itself today! OSHA & PETA would be on our backs in a minute.
Just happened to be here at my trusty computer when your letter came in. Don't you feel badly about bankrupting the Postal Service and putting so many mailpersons out of a job, or should that be malepersons, or just plain old "mailman", as in "postman", "fireman". Are you so frugal as to save 44 cents and in the process, put a poor soul out of work?
And as I come to think about it, perhaps we should have referred to females as woeman, because man has been in a "woeful" state of existence ever since Eve emerged on the scene. We are "woe-men" ~ hear us roar! Or some such rot.
P.S. I really don't have any "doctor" memories to contribute. But I will be able to tell the children, "I remember when we had doctors." Just like I was telling my granddaughter one day about man landing on the moon. She gasped and quickly said, "Grandma we're reading about that in history books!" Question ~ should I be hurt or proud. Well, I'll take proud.
Loretta Willis Marshall (CHS 57)
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Dr. Tom Oast was my wife's (Verna Rae) doctor when she lived in Prentis Park, and later was our doctor when we moved back from Maryland in the early 70's.
There were many Zerkle children in our household, and for the most part, our family doctor was referred to as "Doctor Mom". She cured everything, or just isolated us until it went away! HA One thing about it, when we were growing up, we all seemed to be the healthiest bunch of kids. The only thing we ever saw a doctor for was shots! Ouch!!
The doctor who actually delivered most of the Zerkle "younguns" in our family in West Virginia was named Dr. Altheiser (good German name). The reason I mention this is that when I first joined General Electric, working out of the Bakersfield, CA, office, one of the first people I met there was "Woody Altheiser", the grandson of old Doc Altheiser, born in the same town as I. My mother was still living at the time and I related this to her. She told me that Dr. Altheiser and family just lived "next door" to us in Accoville, WVA where I was born, and she produced a photo of Woody's father and me "playing through the fence" with our little toys. It's a small world after all!
Fred Zerkle (CHS 52)
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You folks have brought back many memories with your letter about Cradock Doctors.
From age 3 to 9 my folks rented a house..20 Afton Parkway...from Dr. Tabor for $41 a month! In 1945, he decided that he wanted to move into the house, and we moved to Alden Avenue.
When I graduated, Dr. Tabor, who was about 82 yrs old at that time, walked all the way from 20 Afton to 39 Alden to bring me a graduation gift. He had taken care of our family for years. When he retired, Dr. Schlanger became our Doctor.
It was good to read your letter and recall all of those great names!
Calvin Geiss (CHS 54)
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Please don't forget Dr. Stanley Powell. He lived and had his practice on Afton Pkwy & Aylwin until he was in his 90's. His daughter, Katherine was class of 57, son Stanley went to Cradock also, nephew, Lee Reid, (Cushing St.) was class of 53 or 54. I drove the family on Dr. Powell’s funeral, and later directed Mavis' service. Floyd Powell, a prominent local musician was his brother, and strangely, unmentioned in the obit though he performed at the service. Katherine and I were childhood playmates and dated once (if you count prepubescent movie going!). I spent many hours in his home and he once excised a tick I collected on a boy scout camping trip. But my doctor was Mary Tom Bunting before she moved from Portsmouth to Blacksburg. After that, it was Schlanger, but that was the year before I left for college.
Tom Chilton (CHS 56)
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Do not forget Dr. Ernest Schweiger - Office on Airline Blvd or Turnpike road at Alexander’s corner. He was a doctor of all things from ingrown toenails to colds, flu, baby births, heart and ulcers and did in-home visits. I am told he would not fill in the birth certificate for my sister April because he was concerned that she might marry a man by the name of June. But, she does have a birth certificate dated April 1 and her name is "April" - as years went on and he took care of her, he got used to it.
He appeared old even back in 1950's, but then, he was balding, heavy set, short, from Austria I believe, no bedside manner, but was loved by my parents - they had him for everything until they died. Dr. Schweiger passed away about 5 years ago and left one son. His wife passed away before he did I believe. My parents passed away before he retired. He loved to travel and loved his patients. I think us kids just thought of him as gruff because you know doctors back then just saw you when you were sick. I remember he had one nurse forever and I will probably think of her name in a little while. Then later, he added a receptionist. It was not unusual for him to grab the phone to answer it if his office assistant was busy. He did retire a few years before he passed away. I had moved away by then and when I returned, I found he had retired. His parking lot was always full during office hours.
Jeanne Knutson Livesay (CHS 57)
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Dr. Russo was our family doctor. I do not have many memories about him except that he treated me for the usual childhood diseases and removed a mole or wart here and there. He did make house calls. I remember him being a pleasant and kind fellow.
Curt Spear (CHS 57)
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Here are some stories I remember about Cradock Doctors:
Schlanger:
In 1951 when I was eleven years old I lived on Old St. in Williams Court--The first time I heard of Dr. Schlanger was when he was called to my grandmothers house next door to attend to my grandfather who became ill during the night (House Call). Unfortunately, he had passed from a heart attack by the time Dr. Schlanger arrived. I remember blaming him because he didn’t save my grandfather for a long time. My mother who was a R.N. finally convinced me it wasn’t his fault but the hard times in the coal mines. He went on to become our family physician for many, many years, probably saving my fathers life several times during his bouts with heart disease over the years.
Powell:
When I was about 5 years old, I was walking down Old St. to a Cub Scout meeting and was struck by a motorcycle. It had ran over my foot and caused me to fall backwards striking my head on a stone embedded in the road. A passer by saw me, put me in a coat and ask me where I lived. He took me home to my mother who put her R.N. training to work and rushed me to Dr. Powell’s home-office on Afton Pkwy. He treated me in his office as best he could then accompanied me and my mother to Kings Daughters Hospital emergency room where he sewed the back of my head. His action undoubtedly probably saved my life. The scar remains and serves as a identifying mark on my military records.
Hargrove:
My son and I were walking down Farragut St. when he was about 4 years old. As we approached Dr. Hargrove’s house, Two very large German shepherds ran from his back yard toward us. I put my son on my shoulders and picked up a stick in an effort to fend them off. Fortunately, some one hollered and the attack stopped but they continued to bark and growl. When they finally returned to the backyard, I went home and called the police. I told the police what happened and that I was on my way back to that house with my gun to kill the dogs and any S.O.B. that got in my way! The cops were there when I got there and Dr. Hargrove apologized for the incident.
These are my stories and I’m sticking to them.
Gene White (CHS 57)
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Thank you for these very interesting profiles of local Doctors. I recognize Dr. Stanley Powell, his daughter Katherine is a CHS 57 classmate of mine.
One you did not mention is Dr. Fleta Gregory, family physician, who practiced in a building at the corner of Elliot and McLean and served
many who lived in the Highland Biltmore and the old Alexander Park area. She delivered my little brother, Edward, and treated me during a very severe bronchitis infection when I couldn't breathe and thought I was going to die.
She had been a medical technologist (laboratory) before attending medical school. I doubt she is living now.
Betty Cahoon (CHS-57)
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My mother was a nurse and we didn't go to the doctor very often, but when we did it was Dr. Powell, who lived directly across Afton Parkway from us. One year, when I was in my 20's, I was visiting my parents on the way to a trip to Europe and I had a tropical infection called "creeping eruption" on one foot that was inflamed and so itchy that I couldn't sit still. Dr. Powell diagnosed it, called a pharmacy in the area near Maryview Hospital and told them exactly what to "mix" to create a salve to put on the area that looked like worms crawling under the skin. This was not an already manufactured remedy but one Dr. Powell prescribed and it completely cleared up this unusual infection. It was because of Dr. Powell that I could walk on my foot and had a great trip to Europe with no additional problems. When I got home, my Dermatologist was amazed at the medication Dr. Powell created for me.
Recently, I remembered that Katherine told me one time that Dr. Powell was a surgeon before he went into family practice. I don't remember the reason he gave up being a surgeon but I'll ask her when I can talk with her.
Carolyn Barnett Wright (CHS-57)
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My sister, Pat Kay, was bitten by a water moccasin while playing softball in a vacant lot in Brentwood. My dad picked her up (about 9 years old) and rushed her to Dr. Powell’s office. Meanwhile, the men in the neighbor were trying to catch and kill the snake so they would know if it was a poison snake. We were convinced Dr. Powell saved her life. I was afraid to ride my bike in the neighborhood all summer that year. There were few houses built at that time and a lot of woods.
A least three times that I can remember he came to our house and gave me a shot for pain when I was having migraine headaches. We didn’t know much about them or what they were called but he always came. I was about 17 when I started having them.
Many years later, Dr. Powell, much older came to my house after Rick and I were married and living in Brentwood . Rick had strep throat and had seen Dr. Powell early for a shot of penicillin. Rick had an allergic reaction and he was having trouble breathing. I called Dr. Powell and he told me to get a knife and run it under hot water and he was going to tell me how to do a trachea. I told him he was crazy and he hung up and came right over. Needless to say, he saved another life.
He was always available day and night. Never heard him complain once.
Shorti Kay (CHS 60)
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I can't believe I remembered his name. But Dr Zolton Halmai was our family doctor and he also made house calls, treating my brother for pneumonia when he was four. I do not remember where his office was. However, it had to be close by either Lee Hall Apartments or Cradock High School. Now that I think about it, it may have been in the shopping center across the street from Lee Hall on George Washington Highway, which in the 60's had the first air-conditioned grocery store in the city or county, whatever it was back then. I believe it was Colonial Stores. It also had a Roses 5-10 store, where I worked when I was in high school. I often cannot remember what I had for breakfast yesterday, but I can remember all this stuff? Man, I must be getting old.
Well, I suppose if Dr. Halmai had not administered penicillin when my brother had pneumonia it might have had a different outcome. Nobody went to the hospital in those days unless you were dying or having a baby. I remember he treated me for a massive carbuncle on my arm that impeded movement. He took care of it right in his office. Those are the only two instances I recall clearly, but I know mother went to him often. My younger brother and sister were born in 1954 and 1956, but I do not know whether he did deliveries. All I remember is that she was in Maryview Hospital.
Ginger Sawyer (CHS 62)
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I remember going to Dr. Schlanger first in his office behind Red's Confectionery then at his office next to Cradock Baptist Church. I remember his nurse/receptionist Mrs. Brown who was always very pleasant.
Those were the days when doctors actually made house calls and due to my
dad's heart problems Dr. Schlanger made several trips to see him even after we moved from Cradock back to Highland Park.
One particular personal visit that stands out was in1961 following my working on a stopped up kitchen sink and cutting my finger on the pipe. My finger was bleeding profusely. I
washed it as best I could and applied pressure to the site but it continued to bleed. Off I went to see Dr. Schlanger. He saw me quickly and checked out the problem. By this time the bleeding had abated. He washed it again, applied hydrogen peroxide, dried it and put on a band aid. Then he told me to go home and have my mommy kiss it to make it well! No charge, even!
Needless to say I felt a bit sheepish but thankful that it wasn't a serious problem. I wonder if any of my current doctors, of which I have many, would do that. Hmmm.
Don Caffee (CHS 59)
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My Doctor (and a lot of other folks used him) because he was a Seventh Day Adventist and had office hours on Sunday. That was nice for the shipyard workers and their families, he had an office in Port Norfolk. His office was up stairs over a corner Drug Store. His name was Dr. Grover Moore. He took out tonsils and appendixes. He delivered my Sister Barbara. He made house calls and came to see me when I was covered with chickenpox.
Suzan McClure (CHS 62)
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My parents took me (including older brother and younger sister) to the doctor only when death was immanent. Generally we used both Dr. Powell and Dr. Schlanger for lancing boils and any cuts that required stitches. Our sister had polio in 1948 and the March of Dimes National Foundation and a whole host of medical personnel were paramount in her care for about 10 years.
Dr. Tabor was used for my sports physicals. Since I usually sat the bench most of the time, I removed all bench splinters myself. The March of Dimes was very good to us and would have continued their services but my Dad preferred to use his civil service medical insurance benefits that began during this period. Dr. Mahone, in Norfolk, fashioned braces for my sister for many years.
I hope this will help with your project
Charles Buck (CHS 57)
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Speaking of doctors...I would like to have a dollar for every stitch that Dr. Powell put into my brothers or me. We were always being taken over to his home office on the corner of Afton Parkway and Aylwyn Road and being stitched up for one injury or another. The good doctor was deaf as a post and sometimes we would have to yell at him, but that was in the day when we had gas wars and bought gas for 14 cents a gallon. Man did we all have it good.
Richard Huneycutt (CHS 61)
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There is little that I can add to your website notes on Dr. Tabor, It seems quite accurate as far as it goes. At the time I was in high school (1937-1941), Dr. Tabor lived on Afton Pkwy and had his office above the Dr Lee Pharmacy (Later Kahler’s Grill). I worked at the pharmacy after school and week ends along with Johnny Casteen. We both were in the same class and both belong to the best and most decorated Boy Scout Troop 205 in the state of Virginia. We at one time had about 20 Eagle Scouts of which we were among them. Our scoutmaster, Roger Keay, was the best ! He was a Cradock lawyer and a leader by example! His brother was , at one time , the fire chief.
I did not know either of the other Dr's you mentioned. I was aware of Dr Russo but did not know him personally , but knew his family , They lived down the street from me on Bainbridge Avenue. Our family doctor was Dr Albert who lived on the corner of Alden or Aylwin Ave and Prospect Pkwy across form the then Cradock High and Grammar school . His office was in the Portsmouth Professional building across High Street from the Catholic Church.
I noted that Bob and Ruth Cutchins was in one of your referenced stories, Also Ruth's maiden name is misspelled ORT not Orrt. If it had been Bob's name spelled wrong I would not have mentioned it, but a ladies name, "Wow", and, during high school I was really in love with her . We dated steady!
I know that you are busy but you would be helpful to me if you would mention the names of those you run across that would be from the 1935-1950 Cradock era. Then I might ask you to, if known, send me a few Email addresses of a couple of them. I have lost track since being away so long. We moved from Cradock in May 1941 to Grove Park, next to Westhaven, where Dad had built a new home. I commuted by bicycle every weekday, to and from Cradock until I graduated in June. That way I could reacquaint myself with one or two of them and they can help me find others.
Dr Lee , the pharmacist, was on the ground floor of the building (a 1/4 Circle shaped building) on your left between Farragut and Gillis Road, on the Farragut end next to an A&P grocery store. On the Gillis Road end was where the Lee pharmacy was located and Dr Tabor had his office above the Lee Pharmacy, Dr Lee was there for as long as I can remember! There was no other Pharmacy while I lived there. I know that later another pharmacy opened.
Next door to Tabors office upstairs was the Jenson family. Pop Jenson, Ma Jenson (at about 1939-1942 she became the first Post Mistress (we had none before to my knowledge ) and two sons both about 20 years old , both Cradock graduates. Pop Jenson was Cradock’s “Iceman”, who delivered ice everyday throughout Cradock , Highland Park and the surrounding area. Ma Jenson was the Post Mistress while I was away in WWII. When the downtown streetcar, which ran down the middle of Afton Square was discontinued the new Post Office was moved into the middle of the Afton Parkway on Prospect Pkwy and facing toward George Washington Highway and next door to the newly opened Cradock Fire Department.
Dr Albert was a family doctor, a young man no more than 30-40 , as I mentioned who served Cradock, lived across from the first Cradock High and Grammar school on Alden and Prospect Parkway, with his office in downtown Portsmouth.
Mr, Treakle was a very large man who was well known and loved by everyone who knew him. He lived on Alden I believe. When you entered Cradock from the Geo Wash Highway on to Bainbridge Ave you will turn to the right and he lived on the left side of that street just before you get to Afton. He had one son, Harold , who died in France during WWII while serving in the army. Mr Treakle , called " Beef "was the manager of Portsmouth /Cradock baseball semi-pro team between about 1935-1941.
My father played second base for several years and I often traveled with him to the games.
I hope these old memories help others recall Cradock doctor stories.
Paul Hesketh (CHS 41)
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Dr. William Winston delivered my first son in l958. His office was at the end of Fredrick Boulevard near Maryview Hospital.
Kay Newsome Smith (CHS 56)
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Goodness, yes! I remember Dr. Schlanger. Probably before I started James
Hurst, I remember him coming to our house on Decatur St. to treat my brother, Jimmy CHS '57, and my sister, Carol for Scarlet Fever which required us being quarantined. At various other times, he treated us all for Measles, Mumps, Chicken Pox, and other childhood maladies. I do
remember, I didn't like him. Probably because he gave me shots.
As a teenager, my Dad took me to a Dr. A. T. Mayo who had an office somewhere outside Cradock. He treated me for Strep Throat. I was so sick, I don't remember exactly where he was but I do remember being really sick for over a week but feeling a little better wanting to go the Friday Night Dance. It's the only time in my life I can remember actually defying my father and insisting on going. He was afraid I'd have a relapse that, of course, I did. I missed at least another week of school and ended up with a "D" in Algebra that period.
It is amazing how my memory can jump from one person to another.
Stevie Ann (McLawhorn) Krozy (CHS '60)
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One thing about doctors that my sister, (CHS 46) did not tell you was about my parents distaste for Dr Schlanger. I remember him doing a house call for me while we were living in Williams Court, but their real negative issue was they blamed him in some way for the death of a sister at childbirth due to his being late for the delivery. That is water under the bridge from a long time ago.
Bill Harris (CHS 58)
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Not only did Dr. Brooks Hargrove see the whole family he also delivered my first child in 1965. His wife was his office nurse and one of his daughters was a nurse. Dr. Hargrove practiced until he became ill. I don't remember when he died. Someone At Cradock Baptist may be able to provide some information. Good luck on compiling the stories.
Dr. Powell practiced even when he couldn't hear. Mavis ,his wife, was also his office nurse. Both died in their 90's.
I was a nurse at Portsmouth General Hospital. The nurses all loved Dr. Schlanger's accent, his attire and his wonderful manners.
I'll let you know if I think of any more war stories. Kate White, mother of Gene and Nancy, was in charge of the Emergency Room at PGH.
Margie Pool Melchor (CHS 61)
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Maurice Schlanger moved quietly into the house across from my family home on Channing Avenue—but then, everything he did was done quietly…and efficiently, and with grace and decorum. Occasionally, when someone uses the word “gentleman,” (I say occasionally, because not too many people use that word these days!) an image comes to mind of Maurice Schlanger, arriving home in the afternoon with his black leather satchel. Now there’s a gentleman, in his dark suit, white shirt, and spiffy tie, looking as fresh in the afternoon as most people look only when they are going to work in the morning.
I would wave, and he would nod and wave back. His presence was part of our support system in a community that provided much support. He will never know how comforting it was, growing up across the street from him. If one of us happened to be under the weather, Mother would call the office and Dr. Schlanger would stop at our house on his way home. And when he sat beside our bed and opened the satchel, out came that gleaming stethoscope, as much a part of him as his coat and tie. Vastly different from any Norman Rockwell image, Dr. Schlanger nonetheless had a style that endeared him to his patients.
Maurice Schlanger practiced family medicine in our little part of the world, and he cared as much about our family as he did about his own. Although he had no children, I think he enjoyed the two kids across the street as if we were his. He was never too busy to stop and ask how we were doing, and long after we had left home, he continued to inquire about us whenever he saw Mother or Dad. Dr. Schlanger tended to our health needs, but, more than that, he was part of what has made us who we are.
Alma Brown Hall (CHS-1957)
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Dr. Schlanger was my doctor also. He had to open boils under my arm when I was in high school. He told me he was going to freeze the area. Wow. did it hurt, but it was a good thing for me. When Bob and I needed our blood test for marriage he drew our blood, I had never had this done before and I was really scared to death.
Dr. Hargrove delivered my first baby. He was so good to me. Even after we moved to Richmond I still came back to him for my baby check ups.
Carol Melvin (wife to Rev. Bob Melvin '52)
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Well folks, thanks to all of you who commented about our Cradock doctors in the years of our youth. Our memories are mostly good ones. We made them a part of our extended family when we were growing up in the Cradock cocoon. One old-timer mentioned that as late as 1948 his doctor was making house calls from his Cradock office to Highland Biltmore and charging $2.00 for the visit. In anybody’s world that was a good deal. This makes for entertaining reading for some of us. If the comments of your schoolmates spurs additional thoughts about your doctor or Cradock send a note to revelerbk@cox.net or send Janie Norris Evans comments at cradock_webmaster@cox.net . I cannot promise that we will publish anything soon but one day you may read your comments on the Cradock website.
bk