[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 20]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 29667-29668]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



  TANNER PRAISES DR. JOHNS' COMMITMENT AS CARROLL COUNTY CIVIC LEADER

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                          HON. JOHN S. TANNER

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 10, 1999

  Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, it is a personal privilege to rise, and have 
spread on the pages of the Congressional Record, an article about my 
good friend, Dr. Howard Johns of Huntingdon, Tennessee. The article 
adequately describes Dr. Johns' many sterling qualities, as well as his 
dedicated and distinguished service to Carroll County.
  I would be remiss not to add that my late father-in-law, Mr. Billy 
Portis, and Dr. Johns were close personal friends for over 50 years. 
Mr. Billy and Dr. Johns both served as Carroll County Commissioners, 
and both were active in the Democratic Party.
  Dr. Johns attended many of our family functions, and, in fact, he has 
been almost like a member of our family.
  So it is with pride and pleasure that I include a profile article 
about Dr. Johns that was published recently in The McKenzie Banner and 
reprinted below. Dr. Johns is a distinguished Tennessean and I am proud 
to call him my friend.

               [From the McKenzie Banner, Oct. 20, 1999]

      Dr. Howard Johns--Retired Veterinarian, Active Civic Leader

                          (By Deborah Turner)

       Summers spent in rural Georgia on his grandfather's farm 
     are among the favorite

[[Page 29668]]

     memories of Dr. Howard Johns, retired doctor of veterinary 
     medicine in Huntingdon. Nestled in a tiny town consisting of 
     two stores and a service station, his grandfather owned a 
     racehorse farm, and Howard got to help with the animals while 
     visiting from his hometown of Eatontown, Georgia.
       He enjoyed feeding, washing, walking and brushing the 
     beautiful, spirited horses which were trained to pull the 
     two-wheeled carriages, called sulkies, in which one man rode 
     to drive the horse in racing.
       He was the middle child of five children: 2 older brothers 
     and a younger brother and sister. His brothers accompanied 
     him in his visits to the farm, where cows, mules and other 
     animals were raised as well as racehorses. Together, the boys 
     got into plenty of mischief during the visits, but what 
     Howard enjoyed most was riding out with his grandfather on 
     visits to other farms. His grandfather was a ``quack 
     veterinarian'', doing what he could to help sick or injured 
     animals in his community. It was because of his grandfather's 
     influence that Dr. Johns decided. ``I'm going to be a 
     graduate veterinarian; I'm going to go to school.'' World War 
     II intervened when, at age 20, Dr. Johns joined the Air Force 
     as a mess sergeant serving in the Pacific theatre, traveling 
     to New Guinea with rotation to Australia. Finally able to 
     make his dreams come true at the end of his tour of duty, 
     there were only six schools in the nation teaching veterinary 
     science. Sixty slots were available at Alabama Polytechnic 
     Institute at Auburn; Dr. Johns was chosen from 1500 
     applicants and began his studies.
       Unfortunately, his grandfather did not live to see him 
     become a graduate veterinarian, passing away after Dr. Johns 
     completed pre-veterinary school.
       In 1949, as a licensed veterinarian, Dr. Johns came to 
     Tennessee to practice. An avid duck hunter, he came here 
     ``looking for ducks,'' he said, and he found them. He dated 
     Judith McConnell for a year and a half before tying the knot 
     in marriage. Over the years, the couple had 4 children; 
     Judy's child, also named Judy, came into the marriage from 
     Judy's earlier relationship; the couple had two more 
     daughters, Kathy and Johnny Beth. Their son, Howard, Jr., 
     affectionately known as Bubba, was tragically lost at the age 
     of eight when he slipped on some hay, falling from a truck as 
     it rounded a corner.
       Upon arriving in Carroll County, Dr. Johns set up his 
     clinic in a room at the Carroll County Co-op building, where 
     he remained for a year and a half. Although there were 
     several persons practicing as unlicensed vets, Dr. Johns 
     brought a learned element as the only educated veterinarian 
     in the area. Through the Co-op, Dr. Johns met many farmers 
     and built his practice. He moved into a new clinic on Main 
     Street, where the beauty shop ``Snips and Curls'' is now 
     housed. There he was able to establish an animal hospital, 
     where around the clock medical care could be provided. As 
     time went on, Dr. Johns saw much evolution in veterinary 
     medicine. When he first began his practice, he saw more large 
     farm animals than small animals. Later, people began taking 
     better care of their pets, and didn't mind spending a little 
     money to keep them healthy. Another change was drive-in 
     service, when farmers and large animal owners began bringing 
     their cows and horses to the clinic in trailers for 
     treatment. Even more has happened in advancements in the 
     science since his retirement 12 years ago, according to Dr. 
     Johns, with better drugs being developed, creating more 
     options for treating diseases. Before the advent of life 
     savings drugs, ``We treated symptoms, that's all we could do 
     with the drugs we had,'' said Dr. Johns. Common in those days 
     were outbreaks of ``black leg'', caused from a bacteria that 
     enters the muscles where gasses form, capable of killing a 
     calf within two days. The bacteria is found in the soil, and 
     once there it remains, although the advent of vaccinations 
     now prevents recurring breakouts. Another common infection in 
     earlier years was stomatitis, an infection caused by fungus 
     growing on the grasses. When eaten, the mouth becomes 
     infected, rendering the animal unable to eat due to the 
     soreness of its mouth. Many of the advancements made in 
     veterinary medicine are the result of research. Dr. Johns 
     feels strongly that animal research is necessary and 
     beneficial to the many animals cared for across the United 
     States each year.
       Dr. Johns worked long, hard hours in order to provide care 
     to the animals in the county and surrounding areas. Farmers 
     arising very early to milk cows would call him early in the 
     day, while people returning from work in the evenings would 
     call after they got home. He remembers taking the children 
     with him in the car to make house calls on Christmas Day. 
     Asked if he enjoyed his work despite the hardships, he 
     replied emphatically, ``I certainly did; I loved it.''
       His practice included some oddities with mistakes of nature 
     occurring in a two-headed calf he delivered, which survived a 
     month, as well as siamese twin calves which were stillborn. 
     Upon the birth of the two-headed calf, the lady of the house 
     asked how long it would live. He predicted it would live 
     about a month. Though it was cared for and bottle fed, it was 
     never able to rise to its feet and died a month later as he 
     had predicted. ``She thought I was real smart,'' said Dr. 
     Johns. It took 3 hours to deliver the siamese twin calves; 
     with forefeet and hind feet mixing together to be delivered 
     from the birth canal, it took Dr. Johns some amount of 
     confusion before he realized what was going on. It was 10:00 
     in the evening before the job was complete. ``That was before 
     we got married and I took my wife with me that night. She had 
     worked till 10:00 and went to sleep in the car. I woke her up 
     and said, `Come in here and look at this thing. You've never 
     seen anything like it, and I haven't either, and don't expect 
     to ever see it again.''
       One Sunday his nephew accompanied him on his rounds. In a 
     typical year Dr. Johns handled around 250 deliveries, but on 
     that day there were an astounding 7 deliveries in which his 
     assistance was required, three of them on the same farm at 
     different times during the day. After witnessing the birth of 
     several calves, his nephew asked, ``How do the claves get up 
     in there?'' Dr. Johns replied, ``The cows are just lying 
     around out here and the calves are running around and just 
     run up in there.'' On their third visit of the day to the 
     farm, Dr. Johns recounted, with a hearty laugh, that his 
     nephew told the farmer, ``You're going to have to separate 
     your cows and your calves; we can't keep coming back here all 
     afternoon.''
       Dr. Johns retired 12 years ago, 2 days before his 65th 
     birthday, in order to care for his wife, who was ill with 
     cancer. ``I stayed right here with her and never missed it a 
     day,'' he said regarding the transition from his work to 
     caregiver. In 1986, his wife lost her fight with the disease, 
     although her personality may still be seen in their home. 
     Among many feminine touches, an embroidered plaque proclaims, 
     ``I know I'm efficient; Tell me I'm beautiful.'' Dr. Johns 
     has had his own share of health concerns, undergoing two 
     successful bypass surgeries; one in 1982 and another in June, 
     1998, as well as surgery for prostate cancer. He was back 
     delivering calves a month after the first operation. He tires 
     more easily since the last bypass, however, it hasn't 
     prevented him from being an active participant in life.
       Dr. Johns has led a busy retirement full of community 
     involvement, being honored many times over in his leaderships 
     capacities. Most recently, he was awarded a Leadership of 
     Carroll County plaque, in recognition of commitment to the 
     leadership of Carroll County and completion of a leadership 
     program. Dr. Johns is the oldest Carroll Countian ever to 
     complete the program, which entails many physical feats 
     involving teamwork in their accomplishment. Other honors Dr. 
     Johns has received are as follows: President of Tennessee 
     Veterinary Medicine Association 1955; the Silver Medallion 
     Award awarded by the County Court in 1980; Carroll Countian 
     of the Year in 1992; 21 Years as County Commissioner in 1996; 
     1998 Outstanding Citizen Award for Community Service; 16 
     Years on the Carroll County Electric Board from 1982-1998; 6 
     Years on the Huntingdon City Council; past Board of Directors 
     of Farm Bureau; past Board of Directors for Carroll County 
     Live-stock Association; past Board of Directors of Carroll 
     County Co-op; presently serves on the Boards of Directors for 
     the Bank of Huntingdon and the Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Johns 
     is a Member of the First Baptist Church in Huntingdon. Of his 
     involvement in the community, Dr. Johns said sincerely, ``The 
     people of Carroll County took me in and this was home the 
     next day after I got here. Carroll County and the surrounding 
     counties have been home for 50 years, because I've been here 
     for 50 years now. They gave to me and I wanted to give some 
     of it back to them.''
       In addition to his community involvement, Dr. Johns enjoys 
     reading and ``piddling'' on his farm where he raises cattle, 
     all of which are offspring of cattle he has raised over the 
     years, and two horses which belong to his grandchildren. Dr. 
     Johns takes much pleasure in the role he plays as ``butler'' 
     at the Cedar Wood Bed and Breakfast owned by his friend, June 
     Crider. The large colonial home that houses Cedar Wood is 
     also available for weddings, parties, and club meeting. Dr. 
     Johns' daughter, Kathy Whitehead, is a nurse at the 
     Huntingdon Hospital; Johnny Beth is a teacher of health 
     occupations at the Vocational School in Huntingdon, and Judy 
     is a health facilities surveyor for the Tennessee Department 
     of Health. He has 7 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.

     

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