A Life, A Love, A Legacy - Reflections on the Life of Dr. Philip Curd

A Life, A Love, A Legacy

Reflections on the Life of Dr. Philip Curd

The particulars of someone’s life are easy to set down once they pass. Those facts that everyone knows about them are recorded time and again and it is usually those things that are remembered as time passes. There is a long list of those particulars when it comes to Philip Richmond Curd MD. Woven in and among those particulars lie the life, the love, and the legacy of a man who served his community, both locally and globally, in every way he could find to serve it. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky to John Price Curd and Mildred Goeth Curd in May of 1941. His father was a dentist in the area His mother, now deceased, said of him, “He was always such a sensitive little guy. He always wanted to help people and he was always interested in Dr. Albert Schwietzer, the physician who worked in Africa and who won the Nobel Peace Prize.”

Following his graduation from the University of Louisville in 1963 with a degree in chemistry, Curd joined the Peace Corps and traveled to Africa. “Church life was important to us and we went to a Presbyterian Church, a little country church. I think that's probably relevant to the Peace Corps because as a child in church, I became familiar with a missionary named Albert Schweitzer who was in Africa. I had actually thought that I was going to be a dentist when I grew up like my dad and then I thought that I wanted to be a missionary but I thought well, you know, if you're a missionary, you have to be a doctor like Dr. Schweitzer. You couldn't be a dentist because they don't have dental missionaries. Of course, that's not true but to the eight-year-old boy, that made a lot of sense.”

The Peace Corps was established in 1961 while he was in college. He started college in ‘59 and considered dropping out of college to join. His father talked him out of it but it stayed in his mind and he became one of the early applicants. While in the Peace Corps, Curd worked first as a chemist. He was then transferred to a teaching position where he taught chemistry and Physics. He also received extensive training in community development which he credits as preparing him for his future endeavor of setting up a Health Clinic.

While most of his experiences associated with the Peace Corps were positive there was a striking exception. Curd said that the principal of the school where he taught was “a very enlightened person, a very wonderful person, very energetic man.” Sometime after his tenure with the Peace Corps, dictatorships took over. The Peace Corps was kicked out. “This wonderful gentleman who was my principal was apparently part of the purge of anybody that might be a threat to the dictator and I'm sure that he was probably killed for being an intellectual.” Historically, Dictatorships target intellectuals as being a threat to the kind of control they wish to impose.

After spending 2 years in Africa, Curd didn’t immediately return to the States. “I went to Italy and bought a motorcycle,” he said. He had to travel through several countries to reach to motorcycle he was looking for. At last, he found his way. “I hitchhiked across Sicily to the other town that's closest to the tip of the boot of Italy and bought the motorcycle and then drove it across to Italy and stayed in a youth hostel and essentially then, with just this motorcycle and me, I just rode across Sicily to Italy then took the ferry to Greece to spend some time and then, down into Athens. I drove through Italy into France and across from France into England, and went to Scotland. It was really wonderful just traveling around.

Curd returned to the States just in time to start the fall semester of Medical School at the University of Kentucky. It was during his time in Medical School that he met a young woman, an undergrad by the name of Terrie Weddle and his life would never be the same. As Terrie tells it, “I was dating someone else at the time and my roommate was also dating someone. My roommate did not like the guy I was dating and suggested I should meet her boyfriend’s roommate, saying that he seemed like a really nice guy. I said OK, though I wasn’t really interested but then we met and that was it for the other guy. The feeling was mutual and from that moment they spent close to 60 years together, marrying in 1970.

Following his graduation from Medical School, Curd did his residency in Chicago, IL. Soon thereafter the couple traveled to Kauai Hawaii where he would work as a physician for close to two years. Terrie remembers their time there fondly. “He did that for me.” she says, “I was the one that wanted to go to Hawaii and he made that happen. When the time came to leave,” she remembers, “we were both sad to go but the dream of starting a rural health clinic in Kentucky remained a major goal so we returned to the mainland to begin that journey.”

Curd had previously researched the Kentucky counties that were most in need of medical services. Jackson County was at the top of the list of the medically underserved at the time. The couple first rented a home in Berea, still looking around for a place. While in Berea Phil started “Health Help, which was incorporated as a non-profit. They soon moved to Jackson County, renting their first place in from Charlie and Caroline Chrisman. They found a small white house in McKee and decided that would be where they would start their Clinic. According to an article published in the Jackson County Sun in May of 1973, the clinic was originally to be named the Jackson County Clinic but, as things often go, folks started calling it the White House Clinic and the name stuck. Phil said, “Health Help Incorporated started with just a handful of people. Our payroll was three part-time people, a medical assistant, a receptionist, and myself.” Before finding and purchasing the white house, the three worked half days at another physician's office on his day off. In June of 1973, the White House Clinic began full-time operations as a family medical clinic. “It was hard getting by sometimes at first,” he remembers, “at one time I had to ask the staff if I could hold their paychecks until cash flow caught up. They all agreed. Everyone saw it as a group effort.”

Soon thereafter the Curds would purchase property on Walker’s Branch Road outside Sand Gap, where they would live in an old farmhouse for years before a new house could be built. They soon became good friends and good neighbors with the small community of folks in the neighborhood. A new home, designed by Terrie would come to life a few years later. She would then go on to study architecture and work as an Architect in Berea for several years. Though her original degree was in Elementary Education she found she had a love for design and architecture as well as a knack for it.

The rest, as they say, is history. Phil worked as a family physician and Medical Director of the White House Clinic from 1973 to 1996. Following his retirement from the White House Clinic, Philip completed a residency in Preventative Medicine at the University of Kentucky and served as Assistant Professor in the Department of Preventative Medicine and Environmental Health at the University of Kentucky from 1998 until 2010. He also had a secondary appointment as Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine. Overlapping this was service as Staff Physician at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Lexington from 2008-2010.

His many awards, including the Schriver Award from the National Peace Corps Association, the Aaron L. Brown, Jr. Award from the KY Primary Care Association, and the Health Hero Award in 1992 from the Fayette County Medical Society, attest to his impact on health issues beyond the confines of our community.His many awards, including the Schriver Award from the National Peace Corps Association, the Aaron L. Brown, Jr. Award from the KY Primary Care Association, and the Health Hero Award in 1992 from the Fayette County Medical Society, attest to his impact on health issues beyond the confines of our community.

In the midst of all these accomplishments, Philip found time to volunteer his time and expertise, both locally and regionally. He has served as an unpaid consultant with the Jackson County Health Department, the Cumberland Valley District Health Department, and Jackson County Health Improvement Partners (JCHIPPS). He has also served as chair of the Berea Hospital Board of Directors and has served on the Jackson County Board of Health and the board of the Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation (back in the day when it was known as JobStart).

In 2014 Phil was the recipient of the Jack Gabbard Citizenship Award, recognizing the many years of service given to the people of Jackson County. “We think there is no better example of a good citizen than Philip Curd, and it is a great pleasure to present the Jack Gabbard Citizenship Award for 2014 to Philip Curd,” said Jackson County Development Association Chairman, Gene Gatts. Upon receiving the award he quoted the first director of the Peace Corps, Sargent Shriver, saying,

"Be servants of peace. Weep with those who are sorrowful, rejoice with those who are joyful, teach those who are ignorant. Care for those who are sick. Serve your families. Serve your neighbors. Serve your cities. Serve the poor. Join others who serve. Serve, serve, serve! That's the challenge. For in the end, it will be servants who save us all."

This quote may very well be the best way of summing up the life of Dr. Philip Curd and his community is forever grateful to him for all the time, effort, and love given.

Today, with locations in Berea, McKee, Richmond, Irvine, Mt. Vernon and Lancaster, White House Clinics offer health care to people of all ages, as well and basic and preventative dental services, pharmaceutical services, behavioral health services, substance abuse disorder treatment programs and basic help that allows people to access necessities like food and transportation. .

Current White House Clinics CEO, StephanieMoore recalls the surge of growth began around the turn of the century. “We were seeing people from all over our region, well outside the counties we normally served. People were making their way to our clinics from really far distances. So, our growth was reflective of that need.

“Moore is a true believer who ensures the clinics run well and continue to meet the communities needs,” says PRTC CEO Keith Gabbard. Curd was quite proud of the growth and expansion of the brain child he dreamed so long ago. For he and Terrie, to see such a dream grow from a tiny white house in McKee to a several full service healthcare facilities has been an amazing journey for them both.

Those are most of the particulars, though it would take a full length book to cover them all. It cannot be stressed enough, however, that those particulars came to be because of the heart, dedication, and determination to serve. His long time hero, Albert Schweitzer once said “I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.” It must be said the Philip and Terrie Curd lived a happy life with all of us here in Jackson County for that very reason. They sought and found a way to serve those around them.

The positive influence they have had on the residents of Jackson County, as well as everywhere else their efforts touched, cannot be overstated. They are owed a great debt of gratitude, though the both of them have always been too humble to think they were owed anything.

We wish you long rest and peace, Dr. Curd and we thank you for all you have done on our behalf and on the behalf of all those you served. Godspeed on the new journey. May the cosmos embrace you with the same love you have given.