Ask Billie

I dare say none of us have known Wharton, Texas without Dr. Harold Northington.

It somehow seemed fitting that his funeral was on Easter weekend.

The service was one of celebration, but we do miss him.

Dr. Northington was the first physican we met when moving to Wharton in 1967.

We arrived before the moving van and, as usual, children know what is going on first in a neighborhood. Smootie Dayvault lived across the street and before long she and the Northington's youngest, Gay, arrived at the back door. From that time on we felt at home and the Northington family was one of those who made that happen.

Like a fine diamond, there were so many facets to Dr. Harold Northington.

He dedicated his life to medicine and his patients. He liked to refer to himself as "a country doctor" but we knew he was a professional: a well educated physician in every sense of the word. As a diagnostician, he was most respected in the Houston Medical Center.

Yes, Dr. Northington was a "country doctor" dedicated to his patients and he made many house calls.

On holidays and weekends he was as close as the telephone. Hundreds of us in Wharton County can attest to the fact that calls were answered in the middle of the night.

A 'delightful friend'

Harold Northington was a delightful friend who must have inherited his father's, Mr. George Northington Sr., ability to tell stories. I probably learned more about Wharton County history from his stories than any other source.

He was proud of his family history that went back to the beginning of Wharton County. It was always amazing that he could remember people in the past at the same time he was telling you about a Longhorn score.

Harold was fun. He loved golf, football, baseball, dancing, bridge and onion rings, to name a few.

Even better, he loved his friends, with no judgment, and we all loved him. He was the kind of person who was ageless, as much at home talking with teens as he was with those his own age. That is a rare gift.

Harold Northington was a man of faith and I have seen that lived out for 41 years. Unless there was a real emergency he was at First United Methodist Church each Sunday, and in those early days preceded by his Nina and 5 children.

Harold loved his western heritage and wanted to preserve that part of history.

He was very much at home in cowboy boots and western hat. He was always excited when he knew some of the children and grandchildren were going to be visiting long enough to spend some time in Egypt.

He fully expected some of them would find a permanent home to carry on his traditions in the area.

Yes, our friend, Dr. Harold Northington, will be missed. Aren't we fortunate to have had him for so many years? A person who touches so many leaves a spirit that will live on.