Dr. John Bottorff with his daughter, Dr. Janelle Bottorff, at their
Plymouth, Ind., practice. |
At the age of 87, John Bottorff Sr., D.C., Davenport ’55, has been
practicing the profession he loves for 56 years. He still practices
20 hours a week with his daughter, Janelle Bottorff, D.C.,
Davenport ’89, in Plymouth, Ind. And he even makes occasional
house calls, just as he did when he started in practice.
“At the time I graduated, I didn’t have an office,” he says. “My
wife, Carol, and I moved back to our home town of Plymouth,
Ind., and I began our practice making house calls. I had regular
appointments at patients’ homes along with making midnight
emergency calls. This was an opportunity to see what my
patients were sitting and sleeping on, which were contributing
factors to their condition.”
House calls, he adds, were fairly common in the 1950s in many
health professions. “Patients were very grateful and appreciative
of the efforts I made to help them through their pain,” he says.
“Some would pay, some would run credit, and others would give
a smoked ham or eggs for payment.”
As for practicing well past the traditional age of retirement,
Dr. Bottorff’s philosophy is to continue doing what he loves
for as long as he can. “I love what I do. If I can help people,
why would I stop? Each day I perform to the best of my ability
in the eyes of God.”
He credits good chiropractic care, good nutrition and tender
loving care with his excellent health. “Life is a mental, physical
and spiritual expression,” he says. “Live it. If you want to excel,
develop all of your God-given talents and in so doing you
develop love for what you are doing and for your fellow man.
Why quit something that you love?”