Dr. Louis Haydon of Pampa, Texas, outside of Houston, recently retired after practicing chiropractic for over four decades. The Pampa News published a lengthy front page story relating the event of his retirement, and of his career.
Dr. Haydon became interested in chiropractic as a child in Galema Park, Texas. Often, thieves would sneak into the yard at night to steal the family's chickens. Dr. Haydon's mother would awaken at the noise of the chickens squawking and the dog barking. She would stick the barrel of a gun out the window and shoot, which was usually enough to discourage any would-be chicken thieves. However, the night after Mrs. Haydon received her first chiropractic treatment she was so relaxed that she slept through the warning noises, and a thief stole the family's hens. "It was that doctor who encouraged me to go into chiropractic," said Dr. Haydon.
But before he aspired to be a chiropractor, Dr. Haydon had dreams of becoming a pilot. He was a teenager during World War II and wanted to assist his country. Dr. Haydon signed up for the service at age 17 and the military sent him to Texas Tech University and New Mexico A&M to study engineering. Since the war was at an end, there were more pilots than needed and Dr. Haydon ended up serving in the military police. He spent eight months in Germany immediately after the war as part of the occupation forces, and when he returned to America he was sent to Austin, Texas where he married his wife, Edna.
After Dr. Haydon left the military, he settled in Oklahoma, attended Carver Chiropractic College in Oklahoma City, and later practiced in a clinic owned by G.A. Reimer in Cheyenne. He moved to Arnett where he practiced for four years, and then moved again to Shattuck, where he stayed for the next 26 years. According to Dr. Haydon, Shattuck was an excellent place to practice because of the thriving health care community and the fact that the town was easily accessible by railway. While in Shattuck, Dr. Haydon helped found the Chiropractic Association of Oklahoma, which was a merger of the Chiropractic Physicians Association and the Oklahoma Chiropractic Physicians Association. He also served on the Oklahoma State Board of Medical Examiners for nine years.
When they saw the local economy faltering in Shattuck, the Haydons moved to Pampa, Texas. They built a clinic very similar to the Shattuck clinic, and moved into a house that was on the same property. Dr. Haydon only had to walk across the driveway to go to work. His practice was so successful that for the past 11 years, he has seen 40 or 50 patients a day.
Dr. Haydon has seen many changes in chiropractic over the years, including the fact that people are now accepting ideas which were once "questionable." "Back in the 1960s and 1950s I used to push an exercise program and walking," said Dr. Haydon. "I remember testing kids in the fifth and sixth grades. Now they call it fitness testing. I always used to prescribe a walking program for back patients. It's the thing today."
Among the many retirement projects Dr. Haydon has planned are a series of seminars, playing lots of golf, and sailing at the Haydons' home on Lake Greenbelt. Although he is happy to have more time he said, "I wish I had another 40 years to go."
Barbara Migliaccio
Second Assistant Editor
