THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 17, 1995 TAG: 9511170639
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JANELLE LA BOUVE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 101 lines
After caring for patients for more than 40 years, Dr. James Wendel Creef finds it hard to admit that he has retired.
Although the 78-year-old has suffered two heart attacks this year, he can still be found about three days a week at the office where his son is now the general practitioner. When former patients stop in to chat and shake hands, they often find their former physician there in bedroom slippers.
``The nice thing about my practice was that I grew up right here in South Norfolk,'' said Creef, whose first office was across the street from the present Ohio Street location.
``I get awful lonesome sitting around the house,'' he said. ``As long as I have my buttons, it doesn't make any sense not to come down here.''
He frequently bursts into a broad smile when a pleasant memory comes to mind.
``The most enjoyable part was maternity,'' he said. ``I liked delivering babies. The mothers were well people and happy people. Everyone was happy.''
South Norfolk's expectant mothers must have liked him, too. Over the years, he delivered about 1,000 babies.
One of Creef's favorite stories is about a man who accompanied his wife into the delivery room. The young woman sat up every time she had a labor pain.
``Her husband would put his hand behind her head to help her lie back down,'' he said.
``You're not doing it right,'' the frustrated spouse finally blurted.
``Who in hell's having this baby, you or me?'' the woman retorted.
``The thing that took time was maternity,'' said Creef, whose office hours were 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ``You never knew how long you'd be at the hospital.''
He delivered two of Mildred S. Gay's grandchildren.
``Over the years, he befriended us in many ways,'' Gay said. ``He is so compassionate and has such feelings.''
Creef was called to attend to Gay's 86-year-old mother.
``He came running up the street from his office with his stethoscope around his neck,'' Gay said. ``After he checked on mother, he came out and said, `Get down on your knees and thank the Lord. It was such a beautiful way to go. Bless their hearts, I have so many patients who won't get well and won't die.' ''
J. James Davis Jr. has known Creef all his life.
``He was the kind of doctor who would take time with you and talk to you,'' Davis said. ``He didn't rush you in and out of his office. He would explain things in layman's terms so a patient could understand.
``He cared about the patients,'' Davis added. ``You could call him at home. He was available, and he would come to that phone and talk to you. Things have changed. Today it's a real rat race. It's a 9-to-5 world.''
Creef admits to having had a good rapport with his patients.
``We chatted as long as the patient wanted to,'' he said.
Some shared family problems with him.
``I enjoyed that because it was a pleasure to discuss things they were worried about,'' he added. ``I tried to reassure them.''
In the early days of his practice, when someone had a heart attack, Creef said, ``I could do little more than sit and watch.''
``The major change that I'm most aware of and grateful for are the advances in cardiovascular research,'' he said.
But when it comes to treating the common cold, Creef said the same old adage still holds true: ``Time heals all wounds.''
He's no longer certain about the year he graduated from South Norfolk High school. It probably was in 1933. He does recall that he was valedictorian that year.
``My dad was in the grocery business on the corner of Poindexter and Chesapeake Ave.,'' he said. ``Back in those days, people would come in and leave their grocery list or phone it in. We'd pack it up and deliver it.''
He liked working on the meat block where he got to use sharp knives and saws.
``I was a fledgling butcher before I decided to go into medicine,'' he said.
He was also an electrician at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard before entering medical school.
``I was not happy as an electrician,'' he said.
When he talked to his wife about attending medical school, she encouraged him to go for it.
After he became a physician, Creef found that in many situations the best he could do was offer moral support.
``It's a helpless feeling to see someone with AIDS or some other malady for which there is no treatment,'' he said. ``I think we all should have a belief in God. We can all learn to pray. I resorted to that a lot and received reassurance. You just do the best you can, then you seek solace in prayer. That makes you feel better when you're in the role of treater instead of treatee.''
Creef is a member of Chesapeake Avenue United Methodist Church, a Mason and a charter fellow of the American Academy of Family Practice.
It was while he was in college, that Dr. Michael S. Creef worked on the front desk in his dad's medical office.
``I really liked what I saw and what my father did,'' Michael Creef said. ``I wanted to become a doctor, too. Now it seems like a dream come true. I enjoy it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MORT FRYMAN
Dr. James Creef, 78, stops by three days a week at the office where
his son now practices.
by CNB