DR. ELLIS MUSEUM TOUR
Dr. William J. Ellis served as the squad's medical director from the time the squad was formed in 1933 until 1996.
Recently, Dr. Ellis' wife, Norma, set up a museum in
the Doc's honor in his former office on Locust Street. As part of a
recent drill meeting, members visited the museum and were taken on a
tour.
It was like taking a step back in time.
COVINGTON RESCUE SQUAD
MEMBERS TAKE A
STEP BACK IN HISTORY
On December 31, 1993, Dr. William Ellis switched his “The Doctor Is...”
sign from “In” to “Out” for the last time and slipped into quiet
retirement.
Now, more than two years after his death, “Doc” Ellis is being
remembered by his wife Norma with a museum created in his memory in his
former office on Locust Street in downtown Covington.
The members of the Covington Rescue Squad were treated to a tour of the
museum recently, during the squad’s monthly training meeting.
Take a step into Doc’s office today and you can take a trip back into a
simpler time, when the family doctor was a one-man medical crew.
Out of his small office, Doc could x-ray and set a broken arm, treat a
cold or fever, do surgery or test a patient’s hearing.
Today, you would have to go to two or three doctors to get that kind of
medical attention.
And, when he opened his office on August 25, 1930, he did it for only
$1.50 for an office call and $2 for a home visit. In 1931, when he
helped open a hospital in Rosedale, a patient could spend a week there
for $35.
On the desk in Doc’s private office, a schedule log shows the last
patients he saw before retiring on New Year’s Eve in 1993. Beside that
is an antique rotary telephone and manual blood pressure checking
station. His stethoscope still sits on his desk, as if he’s stepped out
and will be back in a few minutes to examine you.
In another room, you will see an original examination table. Much
simpler than the ones used in doctor’s offices today, the table has two
examination lights and sits beside a machine that Doc used to test his
patients for hearing loss.
Beside that room is a laboratory, with the Doc’s microscope and x-ray
machine. Not only would he take x-rays of broken bones and internal
issues, he would also develop his own x-ray images right there in his
office.
A cabinet sits along a wall that is filled with antique medical
supplies. Squad members looked into the cabinet in marvel at some of
these items. Some of the younger squad members didn’t know what some of
the instruments were. There were stethoscopes, ear-piercing devices,
thermometers, probes and other items that Doc used day in and day out
while treating his patients.
There are also many pictures, commendations and medical diplomas that
line the walls of the museum, each one, in their own way, telling a part
of the rich story that became the medical legacy of Dr. Ellis.
The only thing missing, according to squad member Teresa Markham, one of
Doc’s many former patients, “was those dogs that sat in the waiting
room.”
Although Doc’s museum doesn’t have set hours, Norma Ellis is more than
willing to show Doc’s office to anyone wishing to take a tour.
A Life Well Spent
To many young people and newcomers to the area, Doc Ellis was known
primarily as a well-known local centenarian.
But there’s not many in the Alleghany Highlands over the age of 30 that
at one point in their lives that didn’t come in contact with Doc,
whether it was having a sports physical for school, having a routine
check-up, or having an injury x-rayed with the x-ray machine in his
office.
Doc was born August 12, 1905, in Crooksville, Ohio. He moved to
Covington with his family when he was three years old.
He graduated from Covington High School in 1923 and graduated from the
Medical College of Virginia in 1929.
He returned to this area and set up his practice in 1930.
Longevity is the most accurate word that describes the next six decades
of Doc’s life, as he dutifully treated the sick and injured throughout
the Highlands.
He maintained a seven-day-a-week medical office on Locust Street, while
at the same time treating patients at the former Chesapeake and Ohio
Railroad Hospital in Clifton Forge and Alleghany Memorial Hospital in
Covington, and later, when both hospitals merged, at Alleghany Regional
Hospital.
Doc also had the distinct record of having delivered over 6,000 babies
during his career, including two sets of triplets.
Longtime Alleghany Memorial Hospital nurse, and Doc’s cousin, Minnie
Garten of East Fudge Street frequently tells the story of Doc calling
her at all hours of the day or night to come and assist him at someone’s
house with the delivery of a baby.
“Oh my, he would call me and say, ‘Minnie, I need you,’ and we’d go
wherever it was,” Garten said. “Sometimes we would have to go way out in
the country and be gone many hours.”
Not only that, but Doc also had the time to serve the Covington High
School athletic teams’ physician for over 50 years.
He was also the medical director for the Covington Rescue Squad from the
time the squad was formed in 1933 until 1996. He taught the first
members of the then-Covington Fire Department and Life Saving Crew
advanced first aid and prepared them for the challenges of taking care
of residents’ medical needs.
In an interview with the Virginian Review in 1992, Doc said, “I set my
sights on becoming a doctor about the fourth or fifth grade. I don’t
have any hobbies and I’d die from boredom if I didn’t have my practice.”
In the early stages of his medical career, Doc worked closely with the
late Dr. William P. Burton.
The two doctors operated on patients at the Covington General Hospital
in Rosedale (which later became Alleghany Memorial Hospital) until
Burton died in a plane crash in 1946.
“We were in the middle of the Great Depression,” Doc said in the 1992
interview. “People weren’t able to pay for a doctor. We did the work,
even though we didn’t get much pay for it.”
It was following the death of Dr. Burton that Doc took over as team
physician for the Covington High School football team.
It was not unusual to see Doc, program folded under his arm and, on a
rainy night, an umbrella in his hand, running along, and keeping pace,
with the members of the football team as they ran down the field.
According to former football Coach John Woodzell, Doc only missed two
games during his long tenure as team doctor, and both of those were to
attend medical meetings.
“I don’t ever recall him misdiagnosing a player’s injury on the
sidelines,” Woodzell said in an interview conducted when Doc retired in
1993. “He’s always doing things beyond what you would expect as a team
physician. And, to my knowledge, he hasn’t charged the school a dime for
all of the years he’s been with us.”
Through a simple act, Norma Ellis has ensured that Dr. William J. Ellis’
legacy as a caring and dedicated physician will be remembered by the
many he touched during his 63-years of service to the residents of the
Alleghany Highlands.
"Doc" Ellis served as the squad's medical advisor from 1933 through 1996. Here, he is pictured in the old fire station, which was located where the pad in front of the fire doors at Station 1 is today. He taught the first crew of squad members advanced first aid through the American Red Cross.
Doc was a fixture at all Covington High School football games. He served as the team's doctor beginning in 1946 and was seen many times crisscrossing the sidelines as the team ran up and down the field. According to former coach John Woodzell, Doc only missed two games during his entire tenure as football team physician.
Doc Ellis was honored by the Covington Rescue Squad during the annual banquet several years ago. After a long life spent serving the residents of the city of Covington and the Alleghany Highlands, Doc passed away several years ago.
During a recent visit with Doc's wife, Norma, the squad presented her with a 75th anniversary commemorative blanket. Norma, left, is presented the blanket from squad member Drema Crosier.
Squad members visiting Norma Ellis were, from left, Mike Fisher, Kim Vass, Don Heironimus, Teresa Markham, Ellis, Chris Selman, Drema Crosier and Captain Tim Dick.
Copyright 2009 Covington Volunteer Rescue Squad