Thoughts From Bob

Here’s some information on Doctor Bob as recalled by his brother Bud Scott.    

I would just like to give you a little history about my brother.  As you probably know, we grew up on a Farm south of Brighton.  My brother was probably the best Milk Cow doctor there ever was!   I think Bob had an uncanny ability to just look at a Cow and know what was wrong with her.  He didn’t need a stethoscope or blood test to determine what was wrong with the cow.  He had enough experience and association with the dairy industry (eg. Feeds & Feeding, milking machines, cleanliness, etc.) to just know what was wrong with the cow.

I can remember Bob telling a story about his earliest decision of being a Milk Cow Doctor.   This was when he was only about 5 or 6 years old.   This was in the heart of the great depression.   Dad had just gotten our Sugar Beet check from the Great Western Sugar Beet Co., and placed it in the local bank.  The next day, the Bank failed.  The Bank took out bankruptcy.  Dad was devastated!  

We had an Uncle that was in the Dairy business.  His name was Frank Aichelman.   Some of you may of known him.  Dad and Bob (as a little boy) went to visit Uncle Frank and he happened to be milking his cows.  Frank was sitting on a three corner milk stool milking his cows.  One thing, I remember about Uncle Frank was the size of the knuckles on his fingers.  They were huge.  Frank had been milking cows by hand all of his life and his fingers had grown because of it.

As I said, my Dad was devastated because of the loss of all of that money that was in the Bank.  Dad said that he had a lot of bills that he intended to pay with that Sugar Beet check, but now there was no money.  It was all gone.  In desperation he was asking Uncle Frank for advice.   Uncle Frank kept on milking and as he was leaning against a cow, he said, “Well I have taken good care of these cows through the years, and I think if I keep on taking good care of them, then they will take good care of me”.   At that moment, Bob (as a little boy) decided then some day he wanted to be a Milk Cow doctor.

Another important step in Bob’s life was his schooling.  We lived in a predominately Lutheran neighborhood.  Most of our neighbors and friends belonged to the Lutheran Church.  As kids our playmates were Lutheran.  Our next door neighbor was Arthur Schultz.   Maybe some of you remember him.  Bob and Arthur played together as little kids.  When it came time for Bob to go to school, he wanted to go to school with Arthur.   So my parents decided to also send Bob to the Lutheran school.  After that we all attended the Lutheran School. 

In the Lutheran School, the first hour of school every morning was dedicated to the study of the Bible.  This part of his education established in Bob’s mind a love religion.  Bob became a great student of the Bible.  Bob knew more about the Bible than anyone else I have ever known.   When doctoring a Milk Cow, Bob would often quote some scripture.  Some of Bob’s favorite scriptures were like the one from the book of Matthew, Chapter 25, verse 40, the Good Lord says, ” in as much as you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me”.  

And also from the book of Luke, Chapter 6, verse 38, here Jesus was talking to a bunch of Farmers and telling them how they should treat their neighboring Farmers.  Imagine if you will that we have a bushel of corn here.  Jesus said;  “Give and it shall be given unto you; good measure is pressed down, shaken together, and running over, shall  men give unto you.  For with the same measure that you give to someone else, it shall be measured back to you again.”  Good philosophy for a man that live 2,000 years ago.

During High School, Bob spent every spare moment he had by riding around with Dr. John Thimmig.  He would go riding with him after school, Saturdays and sometime on Sunday.  This instilled in Bob the desire to become a Milk Cow Doctor.  After High School he enrolled in Colorado A&M College in Fort Collins, but his education was cut short when he was drafted into the Army.

Bob took his basic training at Camp Roberts, CA.  From there he went to Fort Benning, GA. and took training to be a Paratrooper.  After that he was shipped directly Overseas to Germany.  He did arrive in France after the Normandy Invasion but was soon in the front line of the fighting.  His squad was assigned to a Half-Track Armored Vehicle.  He stayed with that Half-Track all the way across France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany.  Most of the time walking beside it and sleeping under it at night. 

Bob was right in the middle of the, “Battle of the Bulge”, in Belgium.  In the winter of 1943-44 he just about froze to death because of the cold and no place to get in out of the cold.  Bob did carry a Bible with him all of the time and read it over and over again.  The Good Lord was with him, because at the start of the War, there about 250 men in his company, when the War ended there was less than a dozen of the original men still alive.  When the War ended they were immediately loaded onto a troop ship and were going around the tip of South America into the Pacific Ocean when the War finally ended.

When he got back home, his first desire was to continue his studies of Veterinarian Medicine.  There were about 2500 men that applied for Veterinarian Medicine at Colorado A&M College and they only chose 60.  Bob was one of the 60.  While there Bob met and became life long friends with many good people.   I see his College room mate sitting right here today.  George Meyers.

As soon as he finished College, he came home and went into business with Dr. John Thimmig at the Brighton Animal Clinic.  From then until now he practiced Vet Medicine and participated in many community activities here at Brighton.  I see many of Bob’s clients sitting right here today.  Bob was not only a good Milk Cow doctor but he was also a teacher.  As Bob was doctoring a Cow he would also try to educate the Farmer about the importance of Good Animal Husbandry. 

I remember one of his clients telling me how he taught the farmer to handle a choke.  Back then, after we harvested the Sugar Beets we would often pasture the Sugar Beet tops.  Many times the cattle would swallow the tops without chewing them properly and they would lodge in the cow’s throat.  Bob would take a coat hanger and bend it into a loop.  Then hold the cows head up and put the coat hanger down the cow’s throat so that it went over the beet top and pull it back out bringing the top with it.  Bob would teach the farmer how to do this, because time was the essence in a situation like this.  If you didn’t get the beet top out quickly the cow would choke to death.

As you know, Bob and Dr. John Thimmig were very close friends.  Dr. Thimmig was Bobs Mentor, his Teacher, his Hero and his business partner.  Dr. John Thimmig was very active in this church and he was also a very active Alumni of Colorado State University.  He was the President of the Colorado State Board of Agriculture for eight years.  This is the Board of Directors that manages Colorado State University.   About that time the Brighton Animal Clinic needed another Veterinarian so they hired a fine young man by the name of Dr. Alan Rice.  Alan came from a fine cattle ranch in the mountains and he knew the trial and tribulations that come with running a cattle ranch successfully.  It was the ideal fit for the Brighton Animal Clinic.

There have been many changes in Farming around here now.  When Bob was practicing Vet Medicine here at Brighton, farming was much different than it is today.  This Platte Valley was one of the most beautiful farming areas in the State.  Good Soil and good water made good farms.  Back then almost every farm had a small dairy herd or a small farm feed lot and there were lots of cattle in this area.  Today there are very few farms with cattle on the farm.

I would like to close now with a poem that was written many, many years ago by Alfred Lord Tennyson.  It called Crossing the Bar.   A sand bar is formed when a river flows into the Ocean.

Sunset and evening Star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea.

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.