Kenneth Perkins, DC, 72nd Keeler Recipient

I was born in Akron, Ohio on February 6, 1952.  I still don’t know that I have forgiven my parents, Mack and Marjorie Perkins, for leaving the south.  When I was four they saw the error of their ways and moved back to their home state of Mississippi.  After developing a horrible case of asthma I finally made it to Texas at the age of seven.  One may think that I was exposed to chiropractic care to help with my asthma.  My mother was an RN and my dad was the head of a medical lab.  So I was not exposed to chiropractic until I worked with a TCC student named Larry Dodds.  It just so happened that we had moved to Pasadena, where one of only fourteen chiropractic colleges on the continent was located.

Why would an asthmatic move to Stinkadena?  I literally started breathing better when we got there.  Yes, in a city surrounded by refineries and a paper mill.  I am firmly convinced that God wanted me to be a chiropractor.  God wanted something else for me as well.  When I was seventeen my family began attending a Baptist church across town.  I had committed my life to Christ at the age of nine and have been involved in church since that time.  Now, I don’t know about love at first sight, but I can tell you what Pam was wearing and how her hair was fixed as she entered my new Sunday school room.

I married Pam three years later and we raised each other through college, starting a practice, and two children.  Megan is now twenty-three and Matlock is sixteen.  We have had peaks and valleys in our practice.  We moved to Conroe, Texas after graduating from TCC.  I practice with Dr. Mike Davis and while living in a ten by twelve room in the clinic.  Thank God for his willingness to take a green chiropractor under his wings.  After three months it was obvious that we weren’t getting a house so we rented an apartment and got cable as a reward.  Wow!  Thirteen channels.  We were on our way.  After three years with Dr. Davis, we moved into our own clinic, which we are still in to this day.

I have been privileged to be involved in many aspects of my community, church and profession. I have served Texas Chiropractic Association on the local, district and state level as president of TCA, I worked hard to stand guard for the rights of Chiropractic for our profession.  At the desire of Governor Rick Perry, I was appointed to the Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners.  Pam has continued her support and enthusiasm for chiropractic on the local and state level. As an active member of Texas Chiropractic Auxiliary she has returned every two years to walk the halls of the Capitol of Texas to hand out TCA cushions to the state legislatures.

I have been blessed to have gotten a certain amount of recognition and honors. Nothing I have received compares to the Keeler Plaque.  I am truly humbled and as Dr. Pinky Willmon said, “I will spend the rest of my life trying to measure up to this honor.”  To my mentor Dr. Richard Brassard and my colleagues in the chairs Doctors Kevin Raef, Dale White, Larry Montgomery and Ken Tomlin thank you for helping me to get there.  To my friend and confidant Dr. Rick Gillespie, I couldn’t have done it without you.  God Bless You All.