Montgomery County sentinel., 1957-08-29

Sitting in her sunny kitchen,
eating fresh-baked pie made of
peaches straight from Georgia, !
watched my children and hers
riding her daughters horse
Dixie" while we talked. This is
work?
Since the whole idea of being
interviewed struck Margaret as
hilarious, we just chatted and
compared notes on husbands, ca
reers and children.
/ have two pages of notes for
three hours conversation and
anyone listening couldn't have
told who was interviewing whom
but we can stop right there be-
cause that is the story of the doc
tors wife, DR.. Margaret Peoples.
Also a Doctor
A trained pediatrician with ten
years experience in various
health departments around the
country she believes in listening
to peoples troubles and problems
as the best cure for what ails
them.
Healing an infection is not 60
ing to help a child much when
the infection will keep recurring
because he is living in a damp
basement with a mother who is
tense from worry and anxiety.
Margaret doesn't quite under
stand why an hours sympathetic
listening relieved this mothers
tension and helped her find a
solution to her problems. But
that's what happened and think
l have a clue.
It's the same secret of success
that made the old fashioned fam
lily doctor such an institution and
1t comes from not specializing In
sections of people but treating
them as whole personalities with
a lot of surrounding personalities
affecting them.
If you consider a patient as an
interesting ulcer or simply
chronic sinusitus, you will never
find out that the real trouble is
a neurotic boss or nagging wife.
Margaret Peoples looks up
from a child's runny nose to the
pinched lines around a mothers
mouth and settles back in her
chair ready to listen.
Her Warth and understanding
flow out across the desk and the
floodgates on the other side are
opened.
Studied in Georgia
Besides her mate humanity,
Margaret was influenced early in
her training at the medical school
of the University of Georgia at
Augusta.
She remembers vividly a pro
fessor's startling advice that any
plumber could deliver a baby,
which is a mere mechanical exer-
else, but it is a doctors duty to
care for the mother and child be-
fore and after birth and help
them with the problems of daily
living.
For the present, Margarets
talents are all devoted to raising
Ter three children, Patty, soon
l3; Billy, 8, and Kenny, 6.
She never says no when the
county's health clinics get into
me of their recurring crises for
ack of staff but as much as she
enjoyed teaching course at
Catholic u. last winter in commu.
nicable disease she halfway re-
sented it because it conflicted
With P-TA meetings and she
wanted more contact with her
children's school.
Margaret and William Peoples
were classmates at medical
,chool. They were married five
lays after graduation.
The idea of a joint career as
obstetrician and pediatrician was
cancelled in favor of public health
work as allowing more time for
'amily life and children.
Moved Frequently
Actually, for the first ten years,
public health work was full time
or Margaret who managed to
get nearby positions as Bill moved
from La Grange, Ga, to Key
West, Fla, to Columbus, Ohio.
During Bills army career here
and in Okinawa, she also worked
except for time out when Patty
was born and Bill was teaching
in Texas. But as the children
started growing up, the doctor
became uneasy about what the
mother was missing.
Now her time is divided be-
tween Brownies and Cubs and
joining in what she likes best,
just plain unorganized fun.
The latter brought her the
highest compliment of her life.
A year ago, when Patty had won
her hearts desire, the horse
Dixie, her hearts desire was so
ungrateful as to throw her the
first time Patty tried TO ride her.
Dixie High.Spirited