Today's a good day to remember Albert Dillon

Albert Dillon was a physician, a surgeon, a popular public speaker, a newspaper owner, a farmer, a public servant and a poet.

Clovis has a street named in his family’s honor; it’s parallel to the land his family donated in 1975 for the hospital known today as Plains Regional Medical Center.

Today is a good day to remember Dr. Dillon because it’s his birthday. He was born on Dec. 31, 1876, in Scottland, Illinois.

Dillon, 80 when he died in 1957, wasn’t Clovis’ first resident, or even its first doctor, but you can’t explore the earliest days of the city without bumping into Drs. Albert and Fred Dillon, brothers who were among the town’s leading citizens most of its first five decades.

Albert arrived in 1909 when Clovis was 2 years old. He talked his brother into joining him in 1914 and they opened medical offices at 102 N. Main.

Together, they bought the Clovis Journal newspaper in 1915 and ran it for three years. They also owned land together and grew wheat and corn when they weren’t making people feel better. Both were active in local service clubs and well known as upbeat storytellers.

Especially Albert.

Newspaper archives tell us Albert Dillon spoke to the Clovis Woman’s Club on March 14, 1933, placing a positive spin on the Great Depression.

“Dr. Dillon enumerated many benefits to be derived from the hardships of the past several months,” the newspaper reported. “In conclusion Dr. Dillon gave several original poems that were a real entertainment.”

Indeed, Albert Dillon wrote an entire book of poetry, “Douceur,” as in the French phrase “douceur de vivre,” which means the pleasure of life. The book is archived in the Library of Congress and easily accessible online.

While some of his works are best forgotten in these more enlightened days of racial equality, his humor mostly survives the test of time.

In “A Doctor’s Professional Pride,” he concludes:

“With heart in my work, I accept your applause,

“You think that I work for the good of the cause,

“But I’m most inclined to be bright and sunny

“Just when my patients are giving me money.”

In a poem called “Stung,” he begins:

“I wonder what the trouble is —

“Why everything went wrong,

“And set my heart to aching

“And robbed me of my song?

At the end, he reveals:

“I know what the trouble is,

“I know what makes me blue.

“It’s ’cause she took my college chum

“On her wedding trip — Boo! Hoo!”

Happy birthday, Dr. Dillon. Thank you for the douceur de vivre.

David Stevens is editor for Clovis Media Inc. Contact him at: [email protected]