Before Dr. Thomas Crews opened the county’s first cardiology practice in 1970, Covington residents who needed cardiac care had to travel to Atlanta for treatment. Now 92 years old, the good doctor ascribes his longevity to exercising the same principles he always taught his patients.
Unlike many young people who have difficulty choosing a career, Dr. Thomas Crews knew from childhood that he wanted to become a doctor. “Our family’s doctor, J.C. Anderson, was an inspiration to me. He was a big man, stately, tall,” Crews said. “He was highly respected in the community, so much that a running joke was that the ‘J.C.’ actually stood for ‘Jesus Christ.’” After high school, Crews attended Mercer University in Macon. There, he met the love of his life, JoAnn Hammond, who hailed from Enigma. The couple married in June 1954 and moved to Augusta to allow Crews to complete his medical degree. He has fond memories of those early years of marriage, living in a garage apartment where the rent was $75 per month.
“Believe it or not, back then, tuition at Mercer was $95 per quarter for freshman and sophomore year. It rose to $105 a quarter for junior and senior year,” Crews said. “I worked at the YMCA while I was in school, for $15 a week. JoAnn worked as a teacher and earned $212 per month.”
Crews revealed that one of the couple’s favorite dates started by spending a dime apiece on bus fare to the S&S Cafeteria in town. “The Friday night special was a meat, two sides and a glass of iced tea for 39 cents,” he said. A 12-cent slice of chocolate meringue pie rounded out the meal. To this day, it remains his favorite dessert.
Crews initially specialized in internal medicine, but the Korean War interrupted his plan to open a private practice. In 1958, he was drafted to serve as a field physician and spent 13 months in South Korea. “We were north of the Imjin River, near Freedom Bridge,” he said. “It was supposed to be terrible, but it really wasn’t.” In addition to serving the military population, Crews relayed that he and his driver would often visit a nearby village, covertly providing medical care to Korean children in need.
“I’ve just always practiced what I preached.”
Dr. Thomas Crews
The Crews family moved to Covington when he returned from Korea in 1960. He opened his first private practice in general medicine with an old college friend, Dr. Harry Faulkner, who, for unknown reasons, was affectionately known to everyone as “Suzie.” They made house calls during those early years. By then, the Crewses had two small children—Tommy Jr. and Jo Ellen—and being roused at all hours of the night for house calls and childbirths was wearing thin. While attending a physician’s conference in Hawaii in 1965, Crews met an English cardiologist named Dr. Aubrey Leatham. The men became good friends, and Crews began planning the switch to cardiology.
Leatham invited him to spend a year with him at St. George’s Hospital in London, but first, Crews had to complete additional studies in internal medicine and a fellowship in cardiology. The family returned to Mercer in Augusta to meet those requirements, then moved to London. Crews fondly remembers that year at St. George’s cardiac clinic, living in an old cottage in the small village of Outwood and treating patients with Leatham.
In 1970, Crews returned to America and opened Covington’s first cardiology practice. He befriended several cardiologists at Emory, and his practice grew. “Thanks to the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Arnold, we were able to open Newton Hospital’s first cardiac unit,” he said. Arnold was a local businessman who largely funded the new treatment center. For nearly 30 years, Crews helped countless patients experiencing heart attacks, strokes and other related conditions. One memorable interaction was with actor Carroll O’Connor while “In the Heat of the Night” was being filmed in Covington.
“He kept having pain in his legs due to ischemia, or insufficient blood flow, and wanted to wait until he was back in L.A. to be treated,” Crews said. “I called his doctor in California, a very famous cardiologist named Dr. [Jeremy] Swan, who said to send him to the experts at Emory. So O’Connor had surgery at Emory. They had to pause filming and find a fill-in.”
Crews retired in 1999. His retirement years have centered around family, especially spending time with his grandchildren and enjoying favorite hobbies. Sadly, his beloved JoAnn died in January 2019 after a long illness. “I miss her so much,” he said with a sigh. “We were married for 64 years, seven months and 12 days.” Now, his daughter Jo Ellen looks out for him, and his great-granddaughter Leah has become the apple of his eye. Crews is a fan of music from the 1940s and 1950s, “before Elvis ruined things,” he said. About a year ago, he started taking ukelele lessons from Scott Lansburg at McKibben Music. It was not the first time the men had met.
“I’ve known Dr. Crews all my life. It was such a surprise when I found out Mac booked him for lessons,” Lansburg said. “When he walked in, we talked for about 20 minutes. I thanked him over and over again for saving my life in 1996. He’d sent me to Emory Crawford Long after what we thought was a heart attack. I had to stay over the weekend and had triple bypass surgery the following Monday.”
Lansberg considers Crews a good student.
“We’ve been having a good time,” he said. “He’s picking it up pretty good. He loves to play a couple of songs from the 40s and 50s by Mitch Miller. He’s a joy to work with.”
Crews remains quite active, going for long walks every day except Sunday, when you can find him at First Presbyterian Church in Covington. His four-mile daily trek takes him around The Square and through the cemetery where JoAnn was laid to rest. When asked about the secret to making it to 92, Crews revealed there was no secret to it at all: “I’ve just always practiced what I preached.”
Click here to read more stories by Kari Apted.
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