DR. JOHN M. BRASHER has been at Memorial Town & Country Animal Clinic from its inception. His previous practice, Memorial Animal Clinic, stood at the existing site of today's "MTC".

Dr. Brasher was born in Weimar, Texas. Even as a small boy in Weimar, he was always intrigued by animals. On more than one occasion, his teacher would request that his mother "try to get your son to leave the critters at home!" This usually meant he had another snake or frog rolled up in his pants cuffs.

While attending Texas A&M University, Dr. Brasher was a member of the Corps of Cadets. He continued on to receive his D.V.M. and chose to practice in Houston. (Not much call for frog vets in Weimar!) Now his patients are usually cats and dogs, but if a client has a sick rabbit or gerbil...and we can't forget the duck, "Lucky Clucky", Dr. Brasher is willing to help.

Dr. Brasher has many animal-related hobbies and interests. They range from working cows at the family ranch in Columbus, to field trial (a retriever competition) with his Labradors.

As the front desk staff has learned, "mark Dr. Brasher out for at least an hour" when a new Labrador pup comes in. Although he has a soft spot for the breed, his menagerie at home includes four cats, (one siamese-retriever), as well as the Labs and a sassy Spaniel.

As with Dr. Saxe, the Gang knows Dr. Brasher is never too busy to lend a hand, or let them know he cares personally, which is why MTC feels like a family, not just a business.

Dr. CHARLES S. SAXE has been at Memorial Town & Country Animal Clinic since the beginning. Already having an established veterinary practice in the neighborhood, it was only a matter of adding his expertise to a growing idea.

Having already been teamed up with an excellent partner, Dr. Thomas Benson, (who retired in December 1999), Dr. Saxe was ready and willing to help establish one of the best veterinary practices possible.

Born in Beaumont, Texas, Dr. Saxe is not only a native Texan, he also defines the meaning of "Texas Aggie". Dr. Saxe not only studied hard, played football, and graduated with his D.V.M., he then went on to serve his country by enlisting in the Air Force. While practicing as a veterinarian, Dr. Saxe has upheld an Aggie tradition by having his three sons graduate from Texas A&M.

Dr. Saxe can just about fix anything that is broken! Now, that doesn't just mean dog's bones or cat's teeth..which he can do routinely...we're talking about clothes dryers, electrical wiring, sprinkler systems, plumbing...etc. On a more serious side, Dr. Saxe has done more than his share of solving problems in the clinic family. One always knows he will be there for all of us with a helping hand and a prayer when needed.

Although his hobbies include fishing, and bird hunting, his pastimes have included things like trying to extract a mad singed raccoon from a client's fireplace! There was also the 10 p.m. incident where he was trying to remove a five foot rat snake from a neighbor's sink while trying to prevent the husband from shooting the snake with a deer rifle!

Rest assured that while he is always on the go, Dr. Saxe is never too busy to be sure your pet is top priority at MTC.

DR. MARK PETERSON is originally from Washington State but after 35 years in Texas, he thinks he's a Texan. He has been in the greater Houston area for the past 30 years and refuses to leave Texas now. Indeed, many weekends you can find him dressed up in cowboy attire and competing in Cowboy Action Shooting competitions around the state.

He went to Texas A&M as all the best bets did and took special interest in horses and exotics as well as dogs and cats. After school he spent several years working almost exclusively on horses and still enjoys their company (which is a good thing as his wife of 10 years insists they have 1 or 2 at all times). Since then he has spent most of his efforts working with small animals and has studied on the use of ultrasound to diagnose problems and continues to seek more in depth studies in the field. If you have horses feel free to ask questions as he sometimes says he misses them and enjoys a good horse story now and then.

Dr. Peterson shares his home with his wife Julie, three dogs-Romeo the terrible terrier, Foxy the sweet Pomeranian and Dax the goofy collie. Two cats also share the house, Stitches and Detra. The horses don't share the house for obvious reasons, but Sampson and his daughter Angel live just down the road.

DR. KAREN EDWARDS
Dr. Edwards has been working as a relief veterinarian for the doctors at MTC since 1990. Although not here on a daily basis, Dr. Edwards has become a regular here many Saturdays, as well as off and on when needed while Drs. Saxe, Brasher, or Peterson are away from the clinic.

Born & raised in Houston, Dr. Edwards was raised on a farm near the Hobby Airport area. Her family of 10 children had a large vegetable garden, as well as horses, chickens, and the dogs and cats.

Dr. Edwards graduated from Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine in 1979. She worked in equine medicine in California and Seguine, Texas, before beginning at a small animal emergency clinic in Houston in 1982. Also in 1982, Dr. Edwards began doing relief veterinary work, filling in when other vets had to be away from their practice.

Dr. Edwards was recently married, (April 2000), and has two 4-legged children - dogs "Clic", who often accompanies her to clinics while she works, and "Sport", a tiny but tough terrier mix she rescued.

Because Dr. Edwards works regularly at various clinics, she is sought by clients in many parts of town. The doctors and staff are fortunate to have Dr. Edwards here when needed, and feel she is truly part of our clinic family.