Bio: Johnson, John W. –
Doctor in Withee
Transcriber:
stan@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Johnson, Petke, Scheffman, Gillard, Coleman, Jacobson, Lamb,
Reinke
---------Source: Withee Centennial (Owen, Clark County, Wis.) 2001
A note on a billboard of the medical college in Loma Linda, CA. caused a
young doctor to cast his lot for a lifetime devoted to serving the medical
needs of residents of the area in and around Withee, Wisconsin. Dr. Johnson
says the note told about an internship available at Columbia Hospital in
Milwaukee. Even though he was the youngest member of the class, he had been
offered an internship at Los Angeles County General Hospital. He says he
never regrets the decision to move to Wisconsin.
Dr. Johnson was born Oct. 29, 1909 in Spokane, Washington. Then his parents
moved to Alberta, Canada, which is where he enjoyed his childhood on a wheat
farm. He married Evelyn Scheffman in September of 1935.
He received his medical degree as a family practitioner from Loma Linda in
1935 and for 53 years he worked and lived in Withee. He was on the staff at
Stanley Victory Memorial Hospital for 50 years and Medical Director at the
Clark County Health Care Center in Owen for 33 years. He was a charter
member of the Withee Lions.
Early memories included moving into an office in the rear of the Withee Drug
Store where, in the 1930s, office calls were $1.00 and the fee for
delivering a baby was about $30. This was during the depression so at times
he was paid in food. During this time they ate very well. He delivered about
1500 babies, the most "famous" one was his "snow baby", born during the
blizzard of February 1937. It was a ten pound boy born to Mrs. Chester
Gillard from south of Longwood. When he received the call that the baby was
on the way he made it down to the Gillard home and they started for the
hospital in Owen, with a milk truck with plow leading the way. A neighbor
was driving Dr. Johnson's car, and Dr. Johnson and the mother-to-be were in
the back seat. When Dr. Johnson realized that the baby was not going to wait
un til they got to the hospital, he and the father delivered the baby as the
neighbor got the car into the Charlie Haas residence (Art Petke, Sr. place
near Longwood). They all stayed there overnight and the next day R. W. Haire
came out and took a picture of Dr. Johnson, Mom and Baby and it appeared in
the Feb. 22, 1937 Milwaukee Journal.
During the years Dr. Johnson practiced, he saw many important new methods of
medical treatment. Antibiotics, the Salk vaccine, the CAT scanners, organ
transplants, etc.
Dr. Johnson died Nov. 4, 1992 in Portland, Oregon. He is survived by a son
Robert, and four daughters: JoAnne (Patrick)O Coleman, Barbara (Wm.)
Jacobson, Sandra (Steve) Lamb, and Linda (Gary) Reinke.
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