Millard "Doc" Ickes
An Equine Industry Legend
One of the first things that new MWI employees are told about the company is that the letters of the company’s name stand for the initials of our founder, Millard Wallace Ickes, affectionately known as doc. He was not only an accomplished veterinarian, businessman, and equestrian, but also a man of tremendous character and personal integrity whose principles and values continue to guide the company today. Doc passed away Sept. 10, 2008at his home in Idaho, surrounded by his family. Doc was the first of 8 children born into a farming family in Page, Nebraska, in 1919. Caring for livestock as a boy, Doc decided early on that he wanted to be a veterinarian. In 1938, he headed off to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, where he completed his bachelor’s degree in Animal Husbandry in 1942. Nearly as soon as he graduated, Doc reported for Military Duty as an office in the Army Air Force, where he trained to be a navigator in B-17 Bombers. He flew 23 successful missions over Germany in World War II, and finished his distinguished Military career in 1946 with the rank of Captain. Once the war was over, Doc moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, where he enrolled in Veterinary College. After graduation in 1950, the Ickes family-Doc and his wife Ivy, along with their four daughters-moved to Nampa, Idaho, where he began his veterinary practice at the age of 30. In 1966, Doc and his younger brother, Lionel, built Kindness Animal Hospital in Nampa, which was both a small and large animal practice. In 1976, Doc started Ickes Drug Company, a small regional distributor of veterinary pharmaceuticals that operated out of the back room of his Nampa clinic with inventory stored in empty kennels. In 1981, Doc sold Ickes Drug to Agri Beef, and the company began to evolve rapidly into the publicly held corporation it is today. Doc had planned to retire after 3 or 4 years, but ended up keeping a hand in the company until 1993. He finally did retire to his ranches in Idaho and Arizona, where he kept busy caring for his dogs and his horses, as well as continuing to pursue his long-time hobby of competitive team roping. He was active in the equestrian community and was honored for his contributions through the years with induction into the Idaho Quarter Horse Breeders Racing Division Hall of Fame in 2006. Our past is the foundation of our future, and MWI is very proud of the roots and foundation that Doc has built and left for his legacy. |
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