A longtime Jefferson County veterinarian thinks retirement is for the birds … or maybe the dogs.
Dr. Ernest Ray Stricklin, 89, who began practicing veterinary medicine 52 years ago, said he will continue helping animals as long as he is able.
“I’m going to retire when the Lord tells me I have to,” he said. “I’m going to work as long as I can do a good job for the people who come in my door. There’s some of them I can’t do now, and I send them to somebody who can.”
Stricklin, who lives in the Festus area, said his work with animals has been a worthwhile journey.
“It’s been a long haul. It’s been a lot of fun. There’s been some heartaches, but I can’t complain,” he said. “My Jesus has been better to me than I ever deserved; he has to all of us.”
Stricklin opened Twin City Animal Hospital on Jan. 15, 1973, at its current location, 1779 Hwy. 67, on the principle of providing affordable veterinary care.
“When they come through that door with their pet, I will treat it like it was my favorite pet,” Stricklin said. “The only thing I’m interested in is getting their little dog well at a price they can afford.”
When Stricklin began his practice, he not only cared for dogs and other pets, but also large animals, like livestock. He was a former vet for the Hillsboro Horse Show and the Jefferson County Rodeo, and he worked with the Professional Bull Riders organization through the 1990s when it was held in St. Louis.
Stricklin was also active in horse show competitions and went to the world championship in 1977.
“We took two 2-year-old studs to the world championship show and placed them second and fourth in the world,” he said. “The next year my horse was a 3-year-old world champion model horse, and the next two years he was reserve champion stud.”
However, after a series of five heart attacks in less than five months in 1993, Stricklin stopped working with large animals and downsized his farm.
“After I had those heart attacks, I couldn’t handle my farm and this too,” he said. “I had 285 acres and about 150 cattle on my farm. I sold the whole thing – the cattle, the machinery and everything at one time.”
No matter what type of animal needed care, though, Stricklin said he always focused on providing the best treatment.
“If I can’t do it and I know I can’t do it, or if I’m doubtful, I will offer them to go to somebody I know who is better at that particular thing than I am,” he said.
Getting here
Stricklin was born in 1932 in Banner and moved to Belleview when he was 13. In 1949, he graduated from Ironton High School and later joined the military.
He served in the Coast Guard from 1952-1956, spending most of his time on the East Coast on a buoy tender setting channel markers. He later transferred to the Hawaiian Islands and returned to St. Louis after the birth of his son, Ed.
In 1968, Stricklin married his late wife, Margie, after meeting her at his friends’ urging while he was in Fredericktown.
She was widowed with four children.
“They (his friends) kept telling me about (Margie), and I said, ‘What would I want with a widow and four children?’ They said, ‘You don’t have to marry her,’ but I called her up and went out with her one time and I did,” he said. “I had to marry her. I loved her.”
Stricklin had two children from a previous marriage – Ed and Martha. He also has four grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
He went to veterinary school at University of Missouri, graduating in 1969.
The death of his mother-in-law spurred him to get his veterinary training at Mizzou.
“I didn’t want my father-in-law living by himself, and I told him to come live with us. He said, ‘If you go to vet school, I’ll come live with you and take care of the kids, and you can go to vet school,’ and I took him up on it,” Stricklin said. “And he was right there with me when I picked up my diploma.”
Stricklin said he is grateful for the friends he has made in his life.
“I don’t think life would be worth living without friends,” he said. “If I have a problem, I just get on the phone and call one of my friends.”
Stricklin said he considers his two employees at Twin City Animal Hospital – Sheri Hallquist and Patricia Haverstick – family.
Hallquist, who has worked with Stricklin for more than 19 years, said her boss has a high tolerance for pain, which is good since he’s broken numerous bones over the years, including both big toes, his ankle, his femur, multiple ribs, his hand and his back, which was injured about three years ago.
“He just does not feel pain,” Hallquist joked.
Haverstick has worked at the practice for more than seven years.
Despite practicing veterinary medicine for more than half a century, Stricklin said there are new things he learns every day.
“I don’t know anything compared to the amount of knowledge there is out there to be learned,” he said. “I was scared to death when I graduated because I realized how much I did not know.”
There’s been some challenging cases, like a dog whose trachea was shot with a high-powered rifle or a nursing dog whose pups had deprived it of calcium, but Stricklin, a member of Faith Baptist Church in Festus, said he’s been able to help the animals, thanks to his experience and faith.
“I’ve seen a lot of (animals) that kind of looked impossible, but I did the best I could with what I knew and a lot of common sense,” he said. “Thank goodness I’ve had lots more successes than I have failures. And I attribute every bit of that to the good Lord up above.”
The best aspect of the job is seeing animals recover and making pet owners happy, Stricklin said.
“My favorite part is an animal coming in that door that looks like it’s dead, like it’s not going to make it, and three weeks or a month later it walks back in that door … and the owners with a big smile on their face.”