Aging in America- Our Heritage of Wisdom
a series of thirty-six pencil drawings by artist jim branscum

 

Original Drawings & Model Commentaries:

AIA Drawing # 23
(17 inches X 23 inches)





 

Dr. John Keown, Jr.:  1920 -                                                                   Tulsa,  Oklahoma


Copyright  © 1992 - 2006  Jim Branscum Art Studio
All Rights Reserved

Mr. Young personally gave me a tour of the hospital's many departments and even showed me the main lobby where he planned to exhibit the Aging in America prints the hospital would receive as a Sponsor.  As we toured various departments within the large medical facility,  his conversation revealed that his concerns for America's aging citizens matched my own and those of the series.   He revealed that he had been seeking art work focusing on the dignity of older citizens for the hospital's lobby and its "Senior Friends" facilities.  As we discussed the lives of the models included the series,  he told me of Dr.  John Keown,  Jr.,  the 78 year old co-founder of "Founders of Doctors Hospital."  My tour ended in Dr. Keown's unoccupied office.  Dr. Keown was performing his duties elsewhere in the hospital while I intruded on his life displayed in frames,  engraved on prestigious awards and other mementos of a full and varied life.

First a student,  then teacher,  a man of war and one of peace,  struggles and triumphs...  the composition for the twenty-third drawing of the Aging in America series was mentally created;  "Dr. Keown passing his wisdom on to the next generation of healer's."   The composition would include three figures-- Dr. Keown,  a patient and a resident physician.   The placement would be determined after finding the patient and resident physician.

Dr. Kristi Kline was selected to represent the next generation of healers benefiting from the knowledge and experience of Dr. Keown's generation.  When we met,  Dr. Kline was completing the last few weeks of her medical residency.  She chose to go into general practice and would open an office before I completed this drawing.  The patient,  Charles Roberts,   was selected because of his many years of service as a volunteer at the hospital,   his recent hospitalization and recovery.  They were each contacted and all agreed to pose for the drawing.   They posed in an examining room with a hand stitched quilt on the wall which was created by the hospital's "Senior Friends" members.  Though posed for the sake of composition,  the drawing is a reflection of the daily life of Dr. Keown.

John Keown, Jr. was born in Vian,  Oklahoma on January 20, 1920.  His early years were spent in the small town of Ft. Gibson,  Oklahoma.  He states,  "I always had a desire to be a physician.  However,  my family was quite poor,   and there was a question of how I could get the funds to attend college."   After graduating from high school in Ft. Gibson, he started his premed education at Northeastern (Oklahoma) State College at Tahlaquah.  In addition to the rigorous academic schedule of premed classes,  he endured a constant financial struggle to remain a student the first two years.  Then a friend suggested that he join the Air Force which paid $500 a month.  He calculated that he would be able to live and save enough money each month to attend medical school after his discharge.

He interupted his premed education in 1941, enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and was stationed at Kelly Field in San Antonio,  Texas.  He was later transferred to Midland,  Texas, where he trained to be a bombardier and was commissioned in August,  1942.  After additional training,  he was assigned to serve in the Solomon Islands arriving in 1943.  He flew combat missions as U.S. forces advanced to the northwest Solomon Islands,  then Guadalcanal,  and all the way back to Truk before receiving orders to return home.  As he prepared to leave,  his commanding officer asked him to fly one more mission to replace a bombardier who had become too ill to fly.  With orders to return home and the assurance from his commander that he was not required to fly the mission,  but that the mission would be canceled if he did not agree to take the place of the ailing bombardier,  he agreed to take one last combat flight. 

It was a flight well remembered.  The plane received over a 150 hits in the fuselage;  one shell ripped off the toes and a portion of the foot of the planes engineer.   On the return leg of the mission,  two engines were lost .  In spite of some harrowing moments,  the engineer's toes were all that were lost.  The pilot managed to bring the crippled plane down safely on Monda Island where the crew was picked up and returned to their station in Guadalcanal.  Two weeks later,  Lieutenant John Keown began his return home.

The combat missions flown in the Solomon Islands prepared Lieutenant Keown and a buddy,   Lieutenant Orlando Severson,  for the flight home which turned out to be as exciting as some of their combat missions.  The first leg of his trip home was to Hawaii.  Lulled into a false sense of security in skies far from the combat zone,   the flight engineer had fallen asleep and allowed the plane's tanks to run dry.  Two hundred miles from Hawaii,  both engines of the plane suddenly stopped.  The engineer was awakened and dashed to turn on gas flows from other tanks.  The engines came back to life at only 1000 feet above the water and the plane continued the flight into Hawaii.  Once in Hawaii,   the two young but battle seasoned Lieutenants agreed that the final leg of the trip to California would be made by ship.  After five days rest in Hawaii,  they sailed to Oakland,  California,  then traveled by train to Chicago where they shared a well deserved 30 days leave far from the dangers and tensions of air combat. 

His buddy,  Lieutenant Orlando Severson,  was responsible for introducing John to the girl who would share his post military life, as John's wife,  Phyllis.  They married in 1944 and now have two children,  Mary and John III,  and five grandchildren.

John then returned to Oklahoma and completed his premed studies at Northeastern State College.   In 1945,  he was accepted by the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine from which he graduated in 1950.  Now, Dr. John Keown,  he completed his post-graduate studies.  For the next seventeen years,  Dr. Keown practiced medicine in Pender,  Nebraska.  Although he had a thriving practice and many dear friends,  the desire to live in his native state brought him back "home" to Oklahoma.

Doctors Hospital had just completed construction and Dr. Keown was invited to join its medical staff.  Dr. Keown began his service to the Tulsa community in 1968 and continued his medical practice until January,  1991,  at which time he accepted the position of Medical Director.  While serving as Medical Director,  Dr.  Keown has been a part of the hospital's growth in its specialty of Family Practice,  especially in the area of geriatrics.  At the present time there are over 100 beds and a professional staff of more than 400.  Columbia Doctors Hospital is large enough to be abreast of all current practices,  yet small enough to maintain a warm and caring atmosphere.

During his years with Doctors Hospital,  Dr. Keown has been affiliated with the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine.  The residents of the school presently rotate through Columbia Doctors Hospital where they receive the benefit of the knowledge and experience of Dr. Keown and other physicians on the hospital's staff,  many of whom are also instructors at the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine's Tulsa campus.

In 1983,  Doctors Hospital was sold to Columbia HCA.  Using the money from the sale, the Founders of Doctors Hospital was begun.  The Foundation is a charitable foundation dedicated to education,   especially schools in rural Oklahoma,   the University of Oklahoma medical School Family Medical Practice Department and other charitable organizations.  The Foundation has been successful in aiding these causes,  and the stated desire is to continue with these efforts.

In 1985,  Dr. John Keown was voted the Outstanding Family Physician in Oklahoma.   He states,  "I have always believed that my patients were my friends,  and I became very close to most of them."  He further states,   "In my present position,  one of my duties is to serve as a liaison between medical staff and administration,  and my office is always open to listen to people and their problems."

To become a Sponsor of the Aging in America project or to place an order for individual prints,  Click Here.

Copyright © 1992 -2006/ All Rights Reserved Jim Branscum Art Studio


Copying or Reproducing the Original Artwork on this Site
Electronically or Any Other Means is Strictly Forbidden
Without the Express Written Consent of the Artist.

Jim Branscum Art Studio ~ P.O. Box 2048 ~ Sapulpa, OK 74067
Phone: 918/227-7856
email: jim@jimbartstudio.com

Business Manager:  Gerry Baker ~  11394 N Linden Road Suite F  ~  Clio,   MI  48420
Phone:  (810)  687-4330
e-mail: gerry@jimbartstudio.com