[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 100 (Wednesday, July 18, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1355]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           RECOGNIZING DR. J.R. TURNER, TROUP COUNTY, GEORGIA

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. BOB BARR

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 18, 2001

  Mr. BARR of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, a half-century of being on call 24 
hours a day, seven days a week, is about to come to a close for Dr. 
J.R. Turner, of Troup County, Georgia. Dr. Turner's resume could boast 
of 2,500 baby deliveries, never losing a mother, never being sued, and 
countless house calls.
  Raised in Gay, a small community in Meriwether County, Georgia, Dr. 
Turner grew up on a farm and was destined to go into agriculture, until 
a discussion with a medical student encouraged him to shift gears and 
go into medicine, ``because he could borrow money for school.'' Not 
only were the finances appealing, but he felt being a doctor he could 
be his own boss, which is something he always wanted to do.
  During his junior year in college he enrolled in a Navy program that 
paid for his tuition, in return for two years of service after 
completing medical school. Dr. Turner graduated from the Medical 
College of Georgia in 1944, and interned at Egleston Children's 
Hospital in Atlanta.
  The end of medical school saw Dr. Turner serving his time for the 
Navy, stationed in Guam, and working in a leper colony. He started his 
private practice in July 1947 in Greenville. During that time he met 
and married Dorothy Allen; they had 11 children and were married for 
over 50 years, until her death.
  The year 1950 saw the opening of Dr. Turner's LaGrange office, and 
soon afterwards his purchase of an EKG machine. He took time away from 
his practice to attend Harvard Medical School for EKG training, and in 
1953 studied internal medicine at Grady Hospital in Atlanta.
  Dr. Turner served as Chief of Staff at West Georgia Medical Center 
twice, and has also served on its board of directors. He represented 
Troup County as a delegate to the Medical Association of Georgia.
  His free time from now on will be spent hunting, fishing, and just 
plain doing nothing. Thank you, Dr. Turner for the countless years of 
service you have given to the folks of Troup County and surrounding 
area, and for the thousands of lives you have brought into the world.

                          ____________________