A longtime Quitman physician who broke barriers is retiring after 40 years.
Dr. Beverly Waddleton retires Jan. 1.
“It has been a very rewarding 40 years,” she said. “I look back now and some of the things I did seem almost surreal now.”
Waddleton said the desire to become a physician struck her the summer after she graduated high school.
“I think it was just kind of a spiritual calling. I grew up with my family trying to help other people,” she said. “It just felt like what I was supposed to do.”
She credits her high school 4-H county agent with helping guide her to Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, where she received a full scholarship. She then attended Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Worth and returned home to Quitman,…