Harlo Donelson, DDS, 85, is nearing his 55th anniversary and has no plans of stopping, serving as the only dentist in Memphis, Mo., for 54 years, the Herald-Whig reports.
Here's what you should know.
1. Dr. Donelson will celebrate his 55th anniversary in the fall of 2017. He has been the only provider for Scotland County in Missouri the entirety of his career.
2. Dr. Donelson served in the U.S. Army for 13 months near the Czechoslovakian border, before returning to Missouri to finish college. He was majoring in wildlife conservation, but then switched to dentistry after a professor complimented his dexterity. He graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry in 1962.
3. After graduating, Memphis Residents wrote letters and called Dr. Donelson to recruit him to the town. The town was without a dentist for two years.
Dr. Donelson said to the Herald-Whig, "I don't know how the folks in Memphis found out I was graduating and was from Northeast Missouri. They said, 'Will you please come up and talk to us because we've been without a dentist for two years.'"
4. Dr. Donelson opened his Memphis practice and quickly became the sole provider for four Missouri counties after providers in Edina and Kahoka passed away.
5. Dr. Donelson frequently donated care to the farmers, especially when Missouri went through a drought from 1981 to 1983.. As for retirement? He said he's putting it off until "the guy upstairs" tells him when.