August 7-20, 2018
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‘HUMBLE, UNSELFISH AND A GUARDIAN OF OUR LITTLE TOWN AND VALLEY’
Death of Doug Herthel mourned around the world Neighbors, colleagues and equestrians all felt the renowned veterinarian’s impact Pioneering local veterinarian Doug Herthel died July 11, and within a day his family was receiving condolences from as far away as Australia.
By Raiza Giorgi
news@santaynezvalleystar.com
D
oug Herthel made an impact on horses and equine veterinarians around the world, but he was also the kind of man you wanted to share a fence line with, according to his friend and neighbor Larry Saarloos. “We lost a great American. Doug was humble, unselfish and a guardian of our little town and valley,” Saarloos said. The news Herthel’s death on July 11 spread around the world within a day. His son Mark said that he has had calls and texts from people as far as Australia. “Since my father’s passing we have received messages from veterinarians around the world whom my father had an impact on. Some of them spent years working with him, some days or weeks, and some never even met him in person, however he influenced them in some way,” Mark Herthel said. Doug Herthel and his wife Sue decided to
154 and when they crested San Marcos Pass and looked down upon the rolling hills, the Herthels knew they wanted to be in the valley. “One of the thousands of amazing things about the town of Los Olivos is how we honor our citizens when they pass on by lowering the flag in the center of town in remembrance and recognition. As devastatingly sad as this sight is for me and my family, it represents so much about what made my dad the man he was,” his son Troy Herthel wrote. Doug and Sue Herthel started the Alamo Pintado Equine Medical Center on their property along Alamo Pintado Road in Los Olivos. Some friends remember that even before they opened the clinic Herthel would practice at his residence, even doing surgery in the front yard, in downtown Los Olivos across from St. Mark’s-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church. Photos contributed “When my parents were building their clinic After they began to treat President Ronald Reagan’s horses at Rancho del Cielo, the Herthels were invited to the White House. we lived in the little apartment above it, and he open what became an internationally famous in 1969 as they were traveling back to UC Davis would spend days treating clients and then at equine veterinary clinic in Los Olivos almost as from visiting family in Southern California. His soon as they discovered the Santa Ynez Valley brother had recommended that they Highway HERTHEL CONTINUED ON PAGE 26
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