Fred Wayland was the first non-veterinarian employed by Howard County Veterinary Service and his service has never been surpassed.  He came looking for a job at the recommendation of his brother-in-law who worked for the other veterinarian in town.  At 24 years old and 135 pounds, he was not impressive, as in those days, the main purpose of help for a veterinarian was to hold hogs and work cattle.  His willingness to do whatever needed to be done, attitude, intelligence, strength, and work ethic soon took any doubts about his value away.  As veterinary medicine advanced, Fred always helped us keep up with our profession.

Although he had finished ten years of school, he could barely read when he started working for us.  He became a fluent reader mainly through reading the Bible.  His mental abilities soon made one understand that he was very intelligent.  Fred had a very positive attitude, was always at work on time, and was willing to do whatever needed to be done with never a compaint or harsh word about anyone or anything.  Although in early years he often worked sixty plus hours a week, he always was looking for extra work.  It was not unusual for clients to specifically ask for Fred's assistance.

Fred worked from March 1963 until May 1985 when he developed a physical problem that would not allow him to work.  His mental state is summed up in that after his physical problem developed, he did not turn it in to Social Security until enough time had elapsed that we needed to appear before a Social Security Judge for them to start their payments to him.  The Judge appeared to look more favorably toward him after being informed that "you could cound the days he had missed in twenty plus years on your fingers and some of those days had been at the insistence of his employer".

HoCoVet has had several outstanding employees, but we repeat, none of them have surpassed Fred Wayland.  He was always the best friend of our practice and veterinary medicine, including the almost twenty years he/we enjoyed his retirement.