[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 18048-18049]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO DR. MEREDITH EVANS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the work of my 
friend, Dr. Meredith Evans. A native of Little Clear Creek in Bell 
County, Ky., Meredith knew what career path he wanted to follow at a 
very young age. Influenced by his family members who were in the 
medical field, he decided by age six that he wanted to be a doctor.
  Through diligence and perseverance he graduated high school early and 
went on to earn degrees from the University of Kentucky and the 
University of Louisville Medical School. After 6 years in surgical 
residency, he became a certified general surgeon, and throughout his 
career he has heavily valued the doctor-patient relationship.
  Not only was my good friend a great doctor, but he also gave back to 
his community and our Commonwealth through his involvement in the 
Chamber of Commerce and in ROHO, a charitable organization aimed to 
further the success of young people, which he founded. His compassion 
worked toward building new schools, immunizing citizens against polio, 
and raising money to give Christmas presents to underprivileged 
children. His community and our Commonwealth have benefited greatly 
because of his work. The Middlesboro Daily News recently published a 
story about Dr. Evans and his involvement in the community. I ask 
unanimous consent that the full article be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record as follows:

                    Local Folks: Dr. Meredith Evans

       Middlesboro.--``I decided I was going to be a doctor when I 
     was six years old,'' recalled longtime Middlesboro doctor 
     Meredith Evans.
       One of his brothers, 18 years his senior, went to medical 
     school, inspiring Meredith to do the same. His first cousin 
     also owned Evans Hospital in Middlesboro and his uncle was a 
     physician in Pineville and Straight Creek.
       Evans was born and raised in the Bell County community of 
     Little Clear Creek with his parents, Rose-Ota Fuson Evans and 
     father Marion F. Evans, a hillside farmer, and his three 
     sisters and two brothers.
       The family lived off of the land, growing and hunting all 
     their own food. Evans remembers hunting and eating game like 
     squirrels and rabbits.
       All six children went to college; the three girls became 
     school teachers and the boys went into the medical field.
       Walking was the primary means of transportation in Little 
     Clear Creek at the time, and was supplemented by horses and 
     mules.
       ``My dad never owned a car,'' he said.
       Meredith walked to elementary school, where he was taught 
     mostly by his school-teaching sister, and later, by his 
     brother who was putting himself through dental school.
       He walked four and a half miles to a bus stop to go to Bell 
     County High School, from which he graduated at the age of 16.
       ``I doubled-up on a couple of subjects when I was under my 
     sister,'' he explained.
       Meredith went to the University of Kentucky to get his 
     Bachelor's degree and the University of Louisville Medical 
     School. Going from Little Clear Creek to the city required 
     some adjustment.
       ``It was quite a change. But I adapted rather quickly,'' 
     Evans said. ``I was spending most of my time going to school, 
     going to classes.''
       Evans was in college during World War II, and was set to 
     head overseas when the war ended.
       ``I had already had my physical examination, and was ready 
     to go in the war. And they dropped the atomic bomb and that 
     ended the war,'' Meredith remembered.
       Evans was told by his college roommate, Wendell Demarcus, 
     that the war was nearly over. Demarcus, it turned out, had 
     some inside information. The physics major had been working 
     on the development of the atomic bomb.
       ``He kept telling me, he said Something will happen that's 
     going to end the war,' but he never would tell me what and I 
     didn't push him for it. But when they dropped the bomb, he 
     said That's what I've been telling you about.'''
       When the Korean War broke out in 1950, Evans joined the 
     service, to avoid being drafted. He spent eight months in 
     Fort Campbell learning about reconstructive plastic surgery.
       ``We did a lot of reconstructive surgeries on soldiers that 
     were returning home. I learned a lot about plastic surgery 
     there,'' Evans said.
       After training at Fort Campbell, Evans and his three 
     friends shipped out. Evans ended up in Europe, thanks to the 
     luck of the draw.
       ``They put our names in a hat and they said the first one 
     drawn out of the hat would go to Europe and the other two to 
     Korea. So my two friends went to Korea,'' Evans explained.
       He was stationed in England, but was able to travel around 
     Europe during his service. Italy, where he toured ancient 
     churches and saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa, was his favorite 
     destination.
       ``I enjoyed their food and enjoyed the people,'' he 
     remarked.
       After medical school, Evans spent six years in surgical 
     residency at three locations--Florida, West Virginia, and 
     Pennsylvania. He emerged a certified general surgeon with the 
     American Board of Surgery, with whom he later became a 
     diplomat.
       The first operation Evans completed was an appendectomy at 
     a hospital in West Virginia, and he recalls the butterflies 
     that filled his stomach that day.
       ``I was doing an appendectomy. The main reason I was 
     nervous, was that my wife was in the operating room as a 
     nurse,'' he recalled.
       His wife, Helen, continued to work as a nurse, helping 
     support the couple while Meredith completed his residency. 
     After finishing his training, he set up shop in Middlesboro, 
     and felt fortunate to be able to return home.
       ``I really enjoy being with country people. I think we have 
     the cream of the crop in the mountains,'' Evans declared.
       Helen worked as a nurse in the practice until the couple 
     started a family. They had five children, Marilyn, Deborah, 
     Carobeth, Michelle, and Meredith II. Evans enjoyed 
     fatherhood.
       ``I had four cheerleaders and a football player,'' he said. 
     ``I loved athletics. Of course, I was always interested in 
     their scholastics. My children always did well in school, 
     which made us happy.''
       The couple now has ten grandchildren and the family is 
     always together for the holidays.
       During his medical career, Meredith Evans witnessed 
     tremendous changes in medicine. Post-graduate education was a 
     consistent part of his career as technology and diagnostics 
     advanced.
       Evans says that diagnostic advancements changed the face of 
     medicine, and that the invention of ultrasound machines, and 
     laparoscopic and endoscopic surgery made it possible for 
     doctors to save more lives than ever before.
       Acquiring the ability to control circulation during 
     surgery, he says, may be the biggest advantage in medicine.
       ``You have machines that breathe and act as a heart, 
     pumping blood through the system while you're working on 
     it,'' said Evans. ``That's one of the biggest advances . . . 
     ''
       For Evans though, who has always had an intense interest in 
     medical ethics, spending time with patients to offer full 
     explanations

[[Page 18049]]

     of procedures and conditions was also a vital part of the 
     occupation.
       "The doctor-patient relationship is the most important part 
     of medicine,'' he asserted.
       In addition to working as a doctor, Evans took on many 
     roles in Middlesboro. He is the director of Community Trust 
     Bank, previously Commercial Bank, a post he has held since 
     1962.
       Evans served as the president of the Junior Chamber of 
     Commerce and later the Senior Chamber of Commerce.
       The Junior Chamber, under Evans, passed a bond issue to 
     provide the funding to build new schools in Middlesboro.
       ``It was a very difficult thing to do,'' Evans said. 
     ``People opposed the taxes that were necessary to do it.''
       In the early 1960s, the group confronted other city issues, 
     including immunizing the town against polio and defeating a 
     resolution to eliminate the citizen-elected City Council in 
     favor of an appointed commission.
       Evans is a founding member of ROHO, an organization that 
     worked toward improving the community, and is named after the 
     song ``The Cockfight'' recorded by Archie Campbell in 1966.
       The organization provides Christmas gifts for 
     underprivileged children in Bell, Lee and Claiborne counties. 
     Last year, the group spent around $30,000 on the program.
       Additionally, Evans served for 12 years on the Middlesboro 
     School Board, was a city councilman for 20 years and served 
     as vice mayor.
       Although Evans has retired from medicine, he continues to 
     keep up with advancements in the field. He stays healthy and 
     sharp with regular exercise and fresh produce from his 
     garden.
       He still hunts and fishes as he did as a child, but no 
     longer brings home squirrel. He is enjoying retirement.

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