35 ALLISON POTTER A lthough many doctors can point back to a moment when they realized they had a calling for their pro-fession, not many can recall this moment happening as early as Dr. Ellis Tinsley Sr. Growing up in the small Southern town of Red Bay, Alabama, Tinsley was well aware of the importance of a doctor who valued family and community. “My uncle was a country doctor. He graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1919. He came back to the town where I was born and he was always a family doctor,” Tinsley explains. “In fact, he delivered me.” Without any grandparents to visit on Sundays, trips to his uncle’s house were frequently inter-rupted by the clear sound of a pocketknife rapping on the door. A man or woman would be standing outside waiting for help — sometimes they carried sacks of potatoes or bushels of corn because they would be unable to pay in cash. Money was never an issue for the doctor. Above: Tinsley’s high school graduation in 1952 with uncle Claude Cromeans (left) and cousin (Claude’s son) Joe Cromeans (right). Left: Dr. Ellis Tinsley Sr. and wife Betty at home on Harbor Island, 2013. www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM
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