Local veterinarian to retire after 42 years

Dr. Greg Tooke is taking down his shingle after forty-two years of serving Carter County and the surrounding area.

In 1975 Greg Tooke came back to Ekalaka to set up the first veterinary practice in Carter County. For around a year or two, he worked out of the old "Grandma McLean" house in town. Ranchers backed up to the door of the house and Tooke worked out of the their trucks. Dog and cat surgeries were performed on the kitchen table, much to his wife Susan's dismay.

In 1977 Jock Schneider roughed in Tooke's clinic on Highway 7 and Charlie Brence did the finishing on the inside. Later, some...