HOPE – On June the 30th, 48 years of full dedication to healthcare will come to a close as children’s doctor Dr. William LaDell Douglas, commonly known as “Dr. D”, will be retiring. Born in Boughton, Arkansas, on June 17th, 1943, where his father, Eural Dell taught in rural schools. Dr. Douglas described his father as, “a very gentle, and quiet-spoken man”, who was instrumental along with friends in obtaining the land that makes up Dr. Roscoe Smith Park today. At some point in his first ten years, the family of Eural and Hesterly Douglas moved into a small shotgun-style house on the northside of Hope, where the family was friends with the McFaddens and the Hicks families. In 1953, Dr. Douglas’ family moved to Chicago. Along with his brothers, he worked for Texaco. His mother went to school and studied to be a beautician during this time.
Wanting to learn more about his career and how he ended up back in Hope, we asked further questions:
Reporter: Where did the thought of being a doctor originate for Dr. Douglas?
Dr. D: “I got the ‘bug’ to be a doctor from my dad, who came to me one time and mentioned that it would be nice for me to be a doctor someday.”
Reporter: After obtaining an undergraduate degree from Southern Illinois University and a Master’s degree from Howard University in Washington D.C, share with us how you got into medical school?
Dr. D: “At age 25, I applied to 13 medical schools, being accepted by both Howard and Georgetown. I ultimately accepted the offer from Georgetown, which turned out to be really good for me.”
Reporter: Where did your interest in being a pediatrician come from?
Dr. D: “At some point, I realized I wanted to shift my focus from adult to children’s health care, because they are so little they can’t talk.
Reporter: Where did you go for your residency?
Dr. D: “Duke University, which is where I wanted to go.”
Reporter: How did you come back to Hope?
Dr. D: “For sixteen years, I lived in North Carolina practicing children’s medicine and living on the beach enjoying the ocean. In 1993, my sister, who worked at Medical Park Hospital in Hope, called me and said that they were looking for a pediatrician, and I said ‘good for you’. The hospital administrator sent me four round-trip airline tickets to come talk. Upon return to North Carolina, the hospital again contacted me and asked, ‘what would it take for you to come back home and take care of the children in Hope?’ In response, I submitted a long list of needs for me to return. In ten days, I received a phone call, ‘I think we can work something out!’. Looking back on it, I think that my coming home was God’s doing, because even though the list of needs I sent them was difficult to meet, the hospital came through. So I arrived here on January 1st, 1994, originally beginning my practice in the building right next door to my current one. We’ve been where we are today for the past 30 years.”
Reporter: When and where did you meet Elaine?
Dr. D: “I went on a snow skiing trip in 1992 in North Carolina and met Elaine, who is from Canada, but at the time was manager of the ski resort. We married some months later on the beach in Fiji at sunset.”
To end the interview, we asked Dr. D questions of the heart:
Asking him if he ever envisioned living in Hope as long as he has, he responded, “I have lived in the busy city of Chicago, with heavy traffic and cold winters. I wanted a quiet life, and I found it! I have a house that is only a couple of minutes away from my work, and I have been well accepted by the community here, so I decided this is where I wanted to be”. Looking back on how many patients he has helped over the years, he mentioned that, “some days I have had as many as 40 patients a day, with some today being second generation patients.”
When asked about his reasoning for retirement, he answered that he seriously started thinking about it this year. “Many doctors begin to get burned out and become tired from their work. For me, I still enjoy it! However, I do notice that my memory is not as sharp as it used to be, and I decided with that slight decline, it was time to do something else.”
We then asked him about his other contributions to Hope, to which he said, “well, I have been on the Hope Water & Light board for ten years, the Economic Development Corporation board for over ten years, and I am also on the UAHT Foundation board.”
Wanting to know more about what’s next, we asked him about what he and Elaine plan on doing in their retirement years, to which he replied, “We don’t fully know what the next chapter of our lives will look like, but I do plan on resting and eventually being able to visit our children and grandchildren on the East Coast and in Canada. Elaine said she would love to take a cruise and I plan on getting to work in the yard a bit and to make repairs to the house.”
Finally, we asked him how he and Elaine have enjoyed these many years living in Hope. He answered, “We have enjoyed being here because of the friendliness and goodwill of the people of Hope who have been wonderful to us. I have enjoyed the solitude of being able to go home and relax and to not have to be dealing with traffic and noise. I’ve really enjoyed this quiet life in Hope!”
We give our utmost gratitude to Dr. Douglas for his unshakable willingness to serve the children and families of Hope for these many years. Thank You, Dr. D, happy retirement!
Pictured: Reporter & photographer Davis Johnson with his life-long doctor, Dr. Douglas!