GENEVA – As a veterinarian with a practice spanning 42 years, William "Doc" Lovett saw hundreds of the Fox Valley's cats, dogs and large farm animals.
He even saw generations of clients bringing their pets in for annual shots, check-ups and treatments, said his daughter Patricia Lovett.
"He was not one to sit and chat," Patricia Lovett said. "He would pretty much get down to business
Lovett, 74, died Wednesday of complications of Parkinson's, a debilitating neurological disorder with which he struggled for the past 10 years, his daughter said.
"He liked working with cats and dogs," said Arline "Kay" Lovett, his wife of 51 years. "Some people would say he was grumpy. He had a better bedside manner with the animals than with the people."
Kay Lovett said she would go on farm calls with him at night, helping to deliver calves, pigs and horses.
"He would take me along because my hand was smaller and could get into the birth canal," his wife said. "One time he was doing a C-section on a cow and the scalpel slipped and cut the palm of his hand."
A lifelong resident of Geneva, Lovett was a 1952 graduate of Geneva Community High School and he settled in Geneva. Together, they raised three daughters. Lovett ran a small animal practice on East State Street in Geneva from 1960 to 2002, where he took care of dogs and cats in addition to making farm calls. Pets became the majority of his practice when farms declined, Kay Lovett said.
Lovett's kindness toward animals extended to strays, so he helped found the Anderson Animal Shelter in South Elgin and performed veterinary services for them and for other animal rescue groups.
Ruth Church of Batavia, who served on the Anderson board with Lovett and then later was a founding member of Help for Endangered and Lost Pets, said Lovett cared deeply about strays.
"He was gruff. Very blunt. But he would do anything for anybody," Church said. "He would go up to Anderson on the weekends and do surgeries. He gave 150 percent to that shelter. He did the same for HELP – and we did not have any money. He did emergency stuff. He was always generous."
Lovett was also a member of several service clubs, such as the Geneva Optimist Club and Jaycees.
The visitation will be from 3 to 7 p.m Saturday at Malone Funeral Home, 324 E. State St., Geneva, with funeral service there will be at 11 a.m. Monday.
