Woman who became world's oldest doctor dies at 114
Dr. Leila Denmark, the world's oldest practicing physician when she retired at age 103 and she died Sunday in Athens, her family members said. She was 114. "The kids would come in and she would spend as much time as she needed with the parents to help fix that baby or that child," said her grandson, Steve Hutcherson, "What she would do is figure out how to help them stay well."
Denmark began her pediatrics practice in her home in Atlanta in 1931 and continued until her retirement in 2001. That year, she earned the distinction of being the world's oldest practicing physician.
Throughout her career, she always kept her office in or near her home, where children and their parents would show up at all hours in need of care, family members said.
She treated some of Atlanta's poorest children as a volunteer at the Central Presbyterian Baby Clinic near the state capitol in Atlanta, said her daughter, Mary Hutcherson of Athens. Mill workers and other poor people who had no other way to get medical care would bring their sick children to the clinic.
"She absolutely loved practicing medicine more than anything else in the world," said another grandson, Dr. James Hutcherson of Evergreen, Colo. "She never referred to practicing medicine as work."
Dr. Leila Denmark, the world's oldest practicing physician when she retired at age 103 and she died Sunday in Athens, her family members said. She was 114. "The kids would come in and she would spend as much time as she needed with the parents to help fix that baby or that child," said her grandson, Steve Hutcherson, "What she would do is figure out how to help them stay well."
Denmark began her pediatrics practice in her home in Atlanta in 1931 and continued until her retirement in 2001. That year, she earned the distinction of being the world's oldest practicing physician.
Throughout her career, she always kept her office in or near her home, where children and their parents would show up at all hours in need of care, family members said.
She treated some of Atlanta's poorest children as a volunteer at the Central Presbyterian Baby Clinic near the state capitol in Atlanta, said her daughter, Mary Hutcherson of Athens. Mill workers and other poor people who had no other way to get medical care would bring their sick children to the clinic.
"She absolutely loved practicing medicine more than anything else in the world," said another grandson, Dr. James Hutcherson of Evergreen, Colo. "She never referred to practicing medicine as work."
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