It pains me to admit that I wasn't a fan of my childhood dentist.
With eleven - yes, eleven - teeth extracted when I was a youth, I wasn't all that jazzed about going to the dental office. Of course, it wasn't done in a day, but eleven teeth were eventually extracted, to remedy overcrowding and prepare for braces.
Come to think of it, I wasn't a fan of the orthodontist either, but back to the dentist, a mere mention of the dental chair filled me with a sense of dread. My, how things have changed in fifty something years with pain management in dentistry. Folks leave the dental office these days floating on clouds. I didn't have that feeling when I departed back in the early 1970s.
But surely it wasn't as dreadful I remember. I wish I could ask my mother or father. They were there. Daddy would leave work at the Bogalusa Community Medical Center and come over to give me courage. I can still see him striding through the door, at 118 Alabama Avenue. Bolstered, I thought, "Here comes Daddy."
Admittedly, he had a hand in the whole ordeal; he was, after all, the one who selected the dentist. At the helm of BCMC, Daddy insisted that our doctors be in Bogalusa. You know --- one hand washes the other. And that is how I came to see Dr. Walter Tisdale.
And for good reason. Dr. Tisdale was not only an excellent dentist but also revered in the community. He died at the age of 91 on January 24 last year.
A Bogalusa native, he was born in 1933 to Cynicus D. "CD" and Edith Wood Tisdale. And young Walter graduated from Bogalusa High School, lettering in basketball; Louisiana State University, where he was a member of Lambda Chi fraternity; and then Loyola School of Dentistry, before starting his successful dental practice in his hometown.
Dr. Tisdale married Denise Burruss in 1957, and the couple was married 65 years. They had two children - son Barry (Janet) Tisdale and daughter Terri Tisdale (David) Dawes; four grandchildren - Andrew Walter (Emily) Tisdale, Dana Dawes (Mark) Blanchard, Zach (Andrew) Dawes, and Amanda Tisdale (Stephen) McDonald; and four great-grandchildren - Nicholas McDonald, Caroline McDonald, Lena Blanchard, and Walter "Walt" Tisdale. And Dr. Tisdale's obituary confirmed that he was a family man, placing priority on spending time with his wife and offspring. He particularly enjoyed traveling and MCCA.
In addition, Dr. Tisdale was an active member in the Louisiana Dental Association and the Kiwanis Club and others. A strong Christian, he was a Deacon, Director and Leader of The RA's, and an active member, serving on many committees, of First Baptist Church in Bogalusa.
My friend John Gallaspy unspooled the Tisdale ancestry in his terrific book "'The City That Refused to Die' Bogalusa's first hundred years."
My dentist Dr. Walter Tisdale's father Cynicus was a pharmacist, having graduated in 1920 from pharmacy school after serving in World War I. And he assisted his brother Damon, who while working at First State Bank became interested in pharmacy, helping him become a pharmacist. The two commenced operation of the City Drugstore, a fixture in Bogalusa. Mr. John recalled that the business was open six days a week, closing only on Sunday morning for church and reopening around lunch time. He also noted that Damon was renowned amongst the children for his cream sodas and magic tricks. That must have been a draw in itself.
And the Tisdales were also well known in banking. According to Mr. John, when Washington Bank's cash reserve dipped below the mandated minimum level, as a result of withdrawals during the Great Depression, the Tisdales made up the difference out of their own pockets, loaning the funds to the bank. As the story goes, the Board decided a Tisdale would eternally occupy a seat on the Bank Board, and so they did as long as Washington Bank was in existence. Dr. Tisdale took Cynicus's place, upon his death, serving until Washington Bank and Hancock Bank merged in 1995.
Going back a generation, Cynicus Tisdale was the son of Walter Irving Tisdale (1865-1955) and Carolyn Elizabeth Tullos (1872-1962) who came here circa 1906 or 1907 for the timber industry. Mr. Tisdale became what was known as a saw filer for Great Southern Lumber. It is a task with which I was unacquainted but one which Mr. John expertly explained in detail in his book:
"It's interesting to note how many of our people came here to make their livings at that particular task. And it should not be surprising, for every large tree was cut with a cross cut saw. The dap, which was the slice that was removed on the down side of the tree, so as to leave a hollow that would guide its fall, was started with a saw by cutting into the trunk parallel to the ground for maybe a foot or so, and then was chopped out with an axe at about a 45 degree angle. But the rest was done with a saw, with a man at each end of it. And then, even when a 75 foot trunk was removed from the forest intact, the top had to be sawed off. The teeth on the cross cut saw had curves and dips in them, and sharpening one was an art. I'm afraid it's now a lost art." Mr. John was correct, as usual.
And it's worth mentioning that Mr. Tisdale later established a blacksmith shop on the east of Columbia Road, near the intersection with Marshall Richardson Road.
Stay tuned for more on the Tisdales in a future column. They were great citizens of Washington Parish. And as it turned out, Dr. Tisdale was also a great dentist. I was just too young to know it.
