He graduated in medicine in 1924 and was one of twenty-five or more physicians practicing in his native city of Findlay, Ohio, a city of about 26,000 people at the outbreak of World War II. At that time he was forty-five years of age, married and had a highly respected family. He was Chairman of the Red Cross for his county and was the medical consultant on internal medicine for the draft boards in his area, and also a member, from the same area, of the Procurement and Assignment Committee of twelve doctors for the State of Ohio. This committee was set up by the Government to assist in determining which doctors could best be spared for service in the armed forces. War activities reduced the number of physician in Findlay from about twenty-five to eleven.