Features Editor

Dec. 21, 2000 10 PM

The citizens of Brundidge and its surrounding communities are mourning the death of Dr. C.L. (Don) Golden Thursday.

Golden served the Brundidge area as its "country" doctor for 32 years and was loved and respected by all who knew him, said Brundidge Mayor Jimmy Ramage.

"Dr. Golden was an institution around Brundidge," Ramage said. "He was an old-school family doctor who was there anytime and any place he was needed. He would be in his office until all hours of the night and then he would leave and make house calls. I never heard anyone say Dr. Golden turned them away. He always made himself available."

Ramage said many area residents were delivered by Golden.

"I’m sure there are second and maybe even third generations who were delivered by him," Ramage said. "We depended on him for our medical needs and he was always there. Even though he moved to Lake Martin after his retirement in 1986, Dr. Golden was still a part of our town. He will be missed. He was committed to his patients and he will always be remembered with affection."

Commitment is a word that is often used to describe Golden.

"Anyone who knew him knows how committed he was to his work, to his patients and to his community," said Maxine Thrash, who was Golden’s receptionist "and flunkie" for 25 years. "He never refused to see anyone who was sick. He was willing to work as long as it took to see everyone in the office. Most of the time it would be way into the night. He was as kind and caring at 2 o’clock in the morning as he was at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. He was just that kind of person. Dr. Golden was a wonderful doctor and a wonderful person. We will miss him and we were better for having known him."

Any time a child was sick, Golden would let the mother and child enter through the back door of his office and he would see the child immediately.

Golden was lovingly known as the "back door doctor" and mothers all across the county sang his praises as did those who opened the door to let him in to see their child in the middle of the night.

"Dr. Golden was a special kind of doctor and we, in Brundidge, were fortunate to call him ‘our’ doctor for so many years," Ramage said. "We have lost a great doctor and a good friend."

Visitation will be from 5 until 8 p.m. tonight at Dillard/Jackson Bryan Funeral Home in Brundidge.

Funeral services are planned for 2 p.m. Saturday at Salem Baptist Church. Burial will follow at Lakeview Cemetery in Brundidge.

Golden is survived by his wife Frances Jernigan Golden; two daughters, Anne Stafford and Susan Majors; two sons, William Golden and John Golden; and 12 grandchildren.