Dr. Baxter at age 53
Born in Fresno, California at the Burnett Sanitarium to Gladys and Avedis Baxter of Fowler, California. Stricken with Poliomyelitis in 1933 and quarantined for 6 months at Fresno County Hospital. Attended Fowler Elementary Schools beginning in 1936 and graduated from Fowler Union High School in 1949. In high school he was active in student government, school publications, and participated in interscholastic football, track, and swimming. In 1949 he entered Reedley College as a freshman to major in Business Administration and to play football. He had not yet attained the maturity to buckle down to college studies, so he left Reedley College and went to work for an uncle who owned a resort called California Hot Springs, in Eastern Tulare County, California. There he acted as life guard at the warm springs pool, did maintenance work and in general sowed his wild oats. He attended San Francisco State College in 1950 and played football for one semester before enlisting in the United States Coast Guard for a 3 year enlistment. To help pay for his schooling, he worked for Campbell Bros. & Sunbeam Toastmaster in the shipping department. He served at the Government Island Training Center Athletic Department, Aboard the USCG Ship Taney; an 83 foot patrol boat at Monterey, California; the Monterey Bay Lifeboat Station; The USCG Ship Yocona in Fields Landing, California; and the Humbolt Bay Lifeboat Station in Somoa, California. It was in the Coast Guard that he attained his nickname "Buzz", which may be mentioned here now and again. He was honorably discharged in December of 1953 as a 2nd Class Petty Officer (commisaryman). In January of 1954 he was employed by the advertising department of the Lorillard Tobacco Company. In September of 1955 he was admitted to California State University, Fresno as a pre-dental student. He worked as a haberdasher and also worked at Pine Logging Corp. pulling lumber on a "green chain" to supplement his GI bill educational funds. In September of 1958 he was admitted to the prestigious College Of Physicians And Surgeons as a
Freshman student in Dentistry. During his dental studies, he worked as a hod carrier with the Hod Carriers Union Local 7, of San Mateo, California: He also worked as a bartender and chef at various San Francisco Bay Area Bistros and Bars to supplement his funds for his schooling. In June of 1962 Dr. Harold H. Baxter graduated with a Doctor Of Dental Surgery degree and opened his General Dentistry practice in Clovis, California. Early in 1963 he opened another practice in the small Sierra Nevada community of Oakhurst; (population 726). Late in 1963 he closed the Clovis practice and moved permanently to Oakhurst. SOCIO-POLITICAL: He immediately became immersed in the social and political workings of the then small community (2009 population near 25,000). He served in various offices of the Oakhurst Chamber Of Commerce culminating as it's president in 1966. He was awarded the title of Oakhurst Citizen Of The Year in 1966, Who's Who In The Golden State and served as a director of the Golden Chain Council. He served as a Scoutmaster, Chairman of Sierra Mountaineer Days (4 years), Chairman and founder of the Bass Lake Boat Club, Chairman and founder of the Yosemite High School Boosters, Chairman and cofounder of the Oakhurst Tennis club, Yosemite High School formation committee, Sierra Ambulance Service formation committee. He served on the Madera County Grand Jury, The Madera County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Madera County Health Planning Commission, Madera County Advisory Planning Committee Chairman. He was elected to the locally owned 49er Savings and Loan Board Of Directors. He was selected as the Grand Marshall of the 1984 Mountaineer Days. He served on The Golden Chain Council board of directors in a community capacity for Oakhurst. He was active with the Golden Chain Theatre as an actor and served on the Board Of Directors.
He was instrumental in the theater's formation in 1968 as a project of the Oakhurst Chamber of Commerce.
In 1976 he donated the 130 year old historic Laramore/Lyman house to the Sierra Historical Sites Association. The home was moved to their Fresno Flats Historic Park and became the centerpiece of the park. PROFESSIONAL: Dr. Baxter practiced in Oakhurst, California for 18 years. He was Oakhurst's first dentist. He was the resident dentist for the Ahwahnee Sanatorium for patients afflicted with tuberculosis, the resident dentist for the Seventh Day Adventist home for thalidomide babies, and also served as a regional consultant for the California MediCal program. He belongs to the American Dental Association, The California Dental Association, The Fresno-Madera Dental Society, and The Academy of General Dentistry. He developed a professional center, Creekside Professional Village in 1967. He retired from the practice of dentistry in 1981. He later filled in for a terminally ill colleague's practice in 1983-1984. POST RETIREMENT In 1988 he moved from the Oakhurst area and called a 40 foot converted Greyhound Bus home for 6 1/2 years. He traveled the United States, Mexico and Canada and was a freelance writer for Family Motor-coaching Magazine, Trailer Life Magazine and other food and travel periodicals.
GILROY GARLIC FESTIVAL
He covered such events as the Gilroy Garlic Festival, The Blossom Trail, numerous air and boat shows as well as launching a cooking and recipe website "The Gutsy Gourmet".After leaving Oakhurst, he stayed for a stint at Casa de Fruta, a roadside watering hole on California route 152. There he and his future wife Vicki Elliott, produced and performed their melodramas on weekends. Buzz, for a period served as the Public Relations Director for Casa de Fruta, promoting the business in the press and throughout the State. In 1992 Buzz and Vicki sold a melodrama to the "Sawdusters" melodrama theater in Coquille, Oregon.
Vicki
Buzz
It was during this time that they ventured up the Oregon Coast to the quaint fishing village of
Florence, Oregon. They immediately fell in love with the place and decided to marry and make their home in Florence. In October 2, 1992, Buzz and Vicki were wed in Florence and constructed their first home together. This was a small home with a very large garage for the 40 foot converted bus. They lived very near the ocean, but could not see it. In 1994, Vicki and the family pet, Freddie, discovered a lot for sale with a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean. This of course left only one option and that was to sell the bus and build a new home. Vicki became the gardener she had always wanted to be, landscaping and tending to a very large naturally landscaped area. She planted flowers and shrubs that is a showcase for passers-by. Buzz on the other hand immersed himself in his web-site, stained glass lamp sculpture, encaustic wax painting, and model ships. In July of 2005 Buzz was diagnosed with Esophageal and Prostate cancers. He spent the rest of that year and most of 2006 undergoing Chemotherapy and Radiation. He published his cookbook "Dining At Noah's Table" while under treatment. In a way it kept his mind off of what was a grueling year. As of Fall of 2008, he has tested negative for both cancers and has his fingers crossed and hoping to be a survivor. He thanks all of his visitors for their best wishes, prayers and e-mails. He is especially grateful for having his wife Vicki at his side for every minute of his illness. He married an "Angel" and a loving companion. She drove 30,000 miles in 2005-2006 just driving to and from cancer treatments. In 2008 with his prostate cancer in submission up jumped the devil with a positive result from a CT Scan, that the
esophageal cancer had returned. This left no other choice but to have surgery. He entered Oregon Health Sciences
University for a 10 hour operation (Esophagectomy) and 14 days in the hopital. He now had to add to his book which he thought
was completed, other chapters more frightening than he previously experienced. Today is June 1, 2009 and the 4th year of his
battle with the esophageal cancer. Buzz is now recuperating from his surgery, and again the prognosis is good.He has been writing a day by day and blow by blow description of his illness since diagnosed. It is a book filled with,
faith, humor, pain, disillusionment and encouragement. It is a must read for those who are just beginning that
long voyage of fighting and beating cancer.
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