Kansas vet trades clinic for capital

Augusta, Kan.

- After retiring in 2006 from the veterinary practice DVM Gary D. Harmon and his wife, DVM Cathy Harmon, have run since 1969, the Kansas veterinarian questioned what to do with all of his spare time.

His wife and the couple's son, DVM Tim Harmon, still run the Andover Veterinary Clinic, but the elder Harmon wanted to try something different -- politics.

The 68-year-old recalled a boyhood visit he paid his grandfather, who served on the legislature, and the impression it left on him. During that two-week trip, Harmon worked as a page running letters and messages here and there for anyone who needed him.

"I thought that was pretty neat," Harmon recalls. "I was old enough to be awed by the whole thing."

Years later, he received his official start in politics on the Andover Board of Education, where he served for 23 years. He also was one of the original board members of the South Central Kansas Education Service Center.

The self-described moderate Republican told his wife of his latest political aspirations and was "given permission" to run for state representative of the 77th District in the Republican primary on Aug. 5.

The Andover resident will face off against incumbent David Crum, R-Augusta.

If given the nod in August and elected in November, the 1966 Kansas State College of Veterinary Medicine graduate plans to continue his work for animal health and for education.

Before opening the clinic in Andover, Harmon worked on the faculty of Kansas State for one year, while his wife finished her degree and then the couple moved to Fort Worth Texas, where Harmon served as chief of veterinary services at Carswell Air Force Base for two years.

The Augusta resident was diagnosed with cancer in 2006, but has made a good recovery, he says, adding he feels good and has plenty of energy to be state representative.

"Kansas needs a veterinarian in the legislature," Harmon says. "They need a representative. Most veterinarians are so busy running their practice, they don't have time to get into state level politics."

See the August print edition of DVM Newsmagazine for the full version of this story.