Ojai loses another of its pillars
By Jesse Phelps

Ojai lost another luminary on Monday when Dr. John Bee, a veterinarian in town for more than 45 years, passed away at his home after battling pulmonary fibrosis.

Doctors explained the affliction, said wife Susan Bee, as a scarring of the lung tissues thought to be a result of growing and feeding alfalfa and hay to horses over a period of many years.

"Throughout his lifetime, small particles of hay lodged in his lungs and caused the scar tissue," she said. "We didn't know what was going on for a long time and over the last 18 months it's progressed exponentially."

Bee and partner Dr. John Lyon ran the Matilija Veterinary Hospital together for many years, until Lyon took over the practice in 1991 after Dr. Bee's retirement.

After that, said Susan Bee, the couple moved to Paso Robles to grow walnuts and show horses. Bee loved horses, breeding champion Morgans and Clydesdales.

But the move to Paso Robles was temporary. "In 1997," said Susan, "John missed his clients and his friends in Ojai so much that we moved back."

Bee originally came to the town in 1956. A veteran of World War II, he graduated with his doctorate from the Ohio State University School of Veterinary Medicine in1955.

After graduation, said Susan, "he went intially to Sacramento and worked for six to eight months and then came down looking for a place to practice in Southern California."

The story goes that he came over Maricopa and was on the corner of Ojai Avenue and Signal when he spotted a police officer. "He askedthe police offficer if they had a vet in Ojai," said Susan. "The officer told him, 'No and I just had to take my dog to Ventura for a C-section. It would be wonderful if we had a vet here.' So he decided to set up his practice."

Susan said her husband originally became a veterinarian because of a childhood incident.

"His family in Ohio always had a lot of animals: dogs, cats, goats, cows and horses," she said. "I know the story that John told me was that when he was a young boy he ran with the neighborhood kids and he trapped animals. But then he trapped his own dog. He decided then and there he was never going to trap again and he would do whatever he could to keep animals from pain or injury. He was probably about 9 or 10 and that was his epiphany."

It was an epiphany that the animal-owned residents of Ojai greatly appreciated.

Susan said that Dr. Bee made many fast friends over his years in town, including those that worked for him.

"He was a wonderful employer and he built a real loyal team out of the hospitalstaff," she said. "They came up and visited in his last days and that was one of the most meaningful things for him. He loved them very much."

During his time in Ojai,Bee served the community in many other capacities, in addition to his veterinary duties, from the school board to the Lions Club to the East Ojai Valley Association. A remembrance for those who knew and loved him will be held at the family residence in Upper Ojai on Saturday, Dec. 6.

© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

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