Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

A true labor of love

Gurdon has had many doctors come and go over the years, but when Dr. George Peeples and his wife, Jean, moved to town in 1955, they decided to stay.

Although the couple retired from the medical profession in 1988, Gurdon has remained their home and a place where many memories were made. While Dr. Peeples practiced medicine on Main Street, Jean was a registered nurse, putting her skills to work at the Gurdon Municipal Hospital.

The couple met in 1949 while Jean was a sophomore at Baptist Nursing School in Little Rock. The couple dated, but the nursing school prohibited its students from marrying until after graduation.

The prohibition by the school wasnt all that kept the couple from marrying at the time, however, as Georges medical student budget was tight.

I couldnt afford her at the time, anyway, he said.

Jean graduated in 1951, and shortly after, the newly graduated medical doctor and registered nurse married and moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where he interned at Harris Hospital for a year.

From 1952 through 1955, the couple lived in Mt. Vernon, Texas, where George had built a new office and was practicing medicine.

Although the medical practice in Texas was successful, George, who was born and raised in Arkadelphia, said there were things that were not like home.

I wanted to come back to where I was raised, he said. Where there was rivers and creeks with fish in them.

A drug salesman visiting his office in Texas told him of the need for a doctor in Gurdon, so the couple came up to take a look. Not long afterwards, Peeples opened his Gurdon practice.

A lot has changed in Gurdon since he first returned to the area in and out of the medical field, Peeples said.

When we came Gurdon, there was a hospital, railroad stops, a lumber yard and a good payroll, he said. Slowly over the years, Gurdon has been dying.

In the days of the Gurdon Municipal Hospital, there were times when Peeples ran his medical practice during the day and was the on-call doctor for the hospital at night.

That was a miserable four or five years, he said.

After the hospital closed, Peeples continued his private practice until 1988. In his 33 years practicing in Gurdon, he kept an overall steady flow of patients and delivered about 30-40 babies a year for 20 of those years.

I had more than I needed at times, and not enough at others, he said. You just dont get rich in a small town.

A new office for his practice was built on Main Street across from Horne Funeral Home in the early 1960s.

Ive always been kidded about having a doctors office across from the funeral home, he said.

Although the couple were both employed in the medical field, they never worked together permanently. Jean has filled in temporarily as the office nurse, but worked primarily at the hospital.

Shes the brains of the family, Peeples said of his wife.

Since Peeples retired, no full medical doctors have practiced in Gurdon, he said.

Im the end of the line.

Retirement has not meant that the couple didnt work. For many years, Jean owned a flea market in Gurdon, and continues to visit estate sales and auctions, reselling what she buys.

As for Dr. Peeples, retirement was gardening and fishing until the point when his knees wouldnt allow him to stoop over for harvesting or getting into a boat.

Now Im confined to yard work and cooking, and I cant get my wife to eat my cooking, he said with a laugh.

Jean concurred.