11/07/2024
Today we say goodbye to a man whose spirit still walks these halls. Dr. John Loftin passed away on Friday, November 1, 2024.
We owe so much to him as one of the original founders and owners of our clinic. When I first started working for Dr. Loftin more than twenty years ago, it was called simply “Animal Hospital”. The black Animal Hospital signs on the south side of the building were placed there by him decades ago, and they remain there as a reminder of from where we have come and the shoulders we stand on today.
Dr. Loftin loved Senatobia and the people who live here. He worked long hours caring for patients, but it was the owners who received the most benefit from his attention. He cared about people and respected everyone for who and what they were without expecting much in return, and I will always be thankful to him for setting that example.
As veterinarians, we do our best work when we are able to form strong relationships with our clients. We deal with severe medical problems and make life and death diagnoses and decisions every single day of our careers. It is not easy to come to work and care not only for sick patients but also their concerned owners day in and day out without it taking a toll both mentally and physically. I watched Dr. Loftin do it with a strength and grace that very few will ever match. He cared for people and their pets with a generous and open heart. That made him a great veterinarian and an even greater mentor to young veterinarians like I was at the time.
I could write pages about all the memories I have of my years working for and with Dr. Loftin. He taught me so much about surgery, medicine, and managing a veterinary hospital. When I remember him I will always think of him seeing patients with a cigar or chewing to***co in his mouth, taking a good lunchtime nap in his clinic recliner, tending the flower beds with care, smiling through the pain of a recent illness or surgery like nothing had happened, and telling the best stories of times gone by. His kindness and smile will never be forgotten, and I wish I could have just one more lunch at the Western Sizzlin to tell him how I feel.
He will be missed! Our thoughts and prayers are with Mrs. Nancy and all of his family today.
Dr. Kendall Meeks