The Stucky Story

The Stucky Story

The year was 1936 (the year of my birth) and our country was in the throes of the Great Depression. It was one of the hottest summers on record in our hometown of Pine Island, Minnesota (about 15 miles from Rochester, home of the famous Mayo Clinic).  My older sister, Gyla, was experiencing a serious and painful ear infection. The medical treatment she was receiving consisted mainly of lancing the eardrum once or twice a week to relieve pressure and enhance drainage. She was crying incessantly and no one was getting sleep at night.

As this went on, my grandfather - who had a fourth-grade education but was a very clever, astute businessman - suggested to my father, a tough-minded, small-town banker, that his granddaughter would not be able to hear by the time she started school (she was five at the time) if the malady continued. He further suggested that my father take Gyla to a chiropractor in Rochester.

To my father, this was preposterous - after all, what can a "bone-cracker" do for a child with ear infection? However, Grandfather further stated he and his wife (Dad's stepmother) had benefited substantially from chiropractic adjustments and that they had seen many children in the office as well. Parents were extolling the virtues of adjustments for their children's health.

At whit's end, my father took Gyla to Dr. Roland Villett, whose office was on the second floor of the Stoppel Building, two blocks east of the Mayo Clinic. Dr. Villette graduated from the Palmer School of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, in 1923, where he studied under the famous B.J. Palmer, D.C., Ph.C. A canopy over his sidewalk entrance was surrounded by a neon sign that said, "Chiropractic gets sick people well." How prophetic this was!

While waiting with my sister, a man in a doctor's garb came out and invited them into his treatment/adjusting room. The man looked a little strange with his thick glasses, which Dad said looked like the bottom of a Coke bottle. As it turned out, the doctor was legally blind - but his marvelous hands and touch were unaffected.

After examining Gyla, he told my father that her problem was in her neck. This puzzled Dad, but Dr. Villett went on to explain that the top vertebra in the neck (the Atlas) was out of alignment and putting pressure on the spinal cord. This was causing nerve interference, which disturbed bodily function and prevented the body from healing itself.

With the examination complete, Dr. Villett - somewhat hesitantly, as he sensed a lack of approval - placed Gyla on her side on his adjusting table with her head resting on a special headpiece. After briefly practicing the adjustment on his "speeder" (a learning device for chiropractic students) to ensure that his adjustment was light, fast, and razor-sharp, he felt confident about the critical-yet-delicate maneuver he was about to perform. 

With a light, fast touch, he moved the Atlas in Gyla's neck. She promptly fell asleep on the table, totally exhausted from the ear infection, and slept for 14 continuous hours! My parents became alarmed, thinking something was amiss, but upon awakening, she was already much improved. With four more specific adjustments, her problem was resolved. It didn't take pills, powders, shots or prescriptions, just spinal adjustments that released the body's ability to heal itself if working the way the Creator intended. It was as simple - yet profound - as that.

Such was the beginning of the Stucky family's life in chiropractic. It started not with a bad back, as some are inclined to think, but with a child's infection. The results were dramatic, to say the least! From that day forward, we depended solely on chiropractic for health care - and our family of six children had one of the finest attendance records at our school. We were a hardworking, outdoor-loving family. Periodically, Dad would load us all into the car and take us for chiropractic tune-ups. If an illness cropped up (which was rare), we were adjusted for that as well. The results were always dramatic and impressive. We used medical doctors for crisis therapy only: fractures, lacerations, etc. Good health was a given at our house. Credit must also go to Mom for great nutrition, which is one of the five basic ingredients of good health (including proper diet, rest, exercise, a good mental attitude, and body free of nerve interference). She had two beautiful gardens, canned often, and served us top-grade meat from one of Grandpa's farms.

One adjustment given at the right time, in the right place, and in the right direction provided the impetus for a total embrace of chiropractic. With the recent graduation of our granddaughter, Heather Mickelson, from Palmer University School of Chiropractic, there are now 16 chiropractors in our family.

To quote B. J. Palmer, "We never know what little thing we may think, say or do today will affect the lives of millions tomorrow. It's better to light one candle than to curse the darkness. Get the 'idea', all else follows."

L. Joe Stucky, D.C., F.I.C.A.