fbpx
Politics Foreign Affairs Culture Fellows Program

Remembering Dr. Gould

I’m in Natchitoches, La., now at a board meeting of the Louisiana School Foundation, and therefore will be missing the memorial service today in St. Francisville for Dr. Alfred Gould, the longtime St. Francisville physician who died earlier this month, aged 84. I’ve written before about what an incredible man, and an incredible mensch, Dr. […]
Alfred R. Gould, M.D.

I’m in Natchitoches, La., now at a board meeting of the Louisiana School Foundation, and therefore will be missing the memorial service today in St. Francisville for Dr. Alfred Gould, the longtime St. Francisville physician who died earlier this month, aged 84. I’ve written before about what an incredible man, and an incredible mensch, Dr. Gould was. This, from his obit in the Times-Picayune:

Always a gentleman, he treated everyone with respect and dignity regardless of their financial status, ethnicity or social standing. He never let the inability to pay stand in the way of complete, quality care, and routinely treated many people at no charge including clergy, high school sports teams, and others. Often, he would decide to treat a patient at no charge, and rather than refuse payment, he would simply not deposit the check. After he retired, his family found a stack of many of these checks in his desk drawer. He was always cheerful and ready to tell a joke or a story. As a member of the First Baptist Church for many years, he lived his faith consistently, and enjoyed singing in the choir although with no formal musical training, and assisting the church in whatever capacity was needed. He was an avid runner and could often be seen running along Highway 61, or on the school track. Eventually he had to stop running on the highway because so many people stopped and asked him if he needed a ride.

Dr. Gould’s memorial service will be at First Baptist Church in St. Francisville at 11 am. Wherever you are, if you can, please say a little prayer of thanksgiving for the life of a true healer and servant. He was the kind of person all of us want to be, or should.

Advertisement

Comments

Want to join the conversation?

Subscribe for as little as $5/mo to start commenting on Rod’s blog.

Join Now