Dr. Gordon Petty
The Smith County Good Scout Award breakfast was held at the Carthage United Methodist Church on March 13, 2018. The 2018 recipient of the Good Scout Award was Dr. Gordon Petty.
The Good Scout Award recognizes community leaders whose professional career have had a positive impact on youth within their community.
A native of Smith County, Dr. Gordon Petty is a retired family physician with 50 years of medical practice. He began honing his leadership skills and selfless attitude in the 1930s as a member of the Boy Scouts of America, Troop 367, which was then sponsored by the Carthage Rotary Club. Dues were ten cents per month, which he was able to afford from working after school four hours a week for 35 cents.
Petty graduated from Carthage High School in 1938 and went on to earn a degree in math and chemistry from Cumberland University. Not having money to go to medical school, he worked as a draftsman for Vultee. In 1944, Petty volunteered for the Navy, where he trained in sonar school and worked aboard a submarine.
After the war ended, Petty used savings and the G.I. Bill to enter Vanderbilt Medical School, from which he graduated in 1950. After graduating, Petty opened his office in Carthage, which stayed open until they last day of the 20th century.
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