Olin Oliver Enzor, M.D.

Dr Olin Enzor     Olin Enzor was born March 2, 1884 in LaPine, AL.  He was the fifth child of 13 born to Oliver and Eugenia Merritt Enzor.  He moved to Florida after graduating with an M.D. degree in Mississippi in 1908.  And, the following year he received another degree from the Georgia College of Eclectic Medicine in Atlanta.  He established permanent ties in northwest Florida when he married Lelia Lois Weatherly of Laurel Hill on September 28, 1908. 

     The good doctor worked in Freeport, then Baker, and for the Bagdad Land and Lumber Company for a while before finally settling in Crestview in 1925.  By 1926 Dr. Olin and his brother Dr. Jut (Justice) as they were known, had built the first hospital in Okaloosa County.  Actually, it was the only hospital been Pensacola and Marianna at the time. The hospital building burned in 1931 but that did not stop his practice – a new hospital was built on the same site.

     Dr. Olin is remembered for his generosity, colorful vocabulary and sense of humor.  He often treated patients who could not pay or simply gave to those down on their luck. 

“There was a particular family whose three babies were all delivered by Doctor Olin without them every paying him a penny.  There were many times when people took advantage of his generosity, but I am also quite certain he knew it. You couldn’t put anything over on him.  I often marveled at his insight. He was one of the most intelligent men I have ever known who also had a quick wit.  He loved to laugh and jokes with all of us.  He just genuinely loved people and found great satisfaction in helping them.”

enzor hospital      Just before World War I, the lumber industry in northwest Florida began to decline and sawmills were closing so Dr. Olin had to look for a place to relocate his family.  He studied at the Chicago Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat College in Chicago, IL. When he graduated he and his family moved to Burkeville, TX. According to his daughter, Dr. Olin performed his first surgery on a man with thirteen gunshot wounds and was credited with saving his life.  The man was brought to him from Lowery’s Turpentine Camp.  He continued practicing medicine in Burkeville  until 1925.  He and the family then moved to Crestview, FL and opened his practice in the Rice Building located on Crestview's Main Street.  He later bought the only drug store in town and moved his office to a building in back of the store.  "He was a very busy man," recalles Mr Hilton, "he got calls at all times of the night."

     When Dr. Olin retired in 1958, he raised cattle and buffalo on his ranch near Milligan and enjoyed his grandchildren until his death in 1964 Today, his descendents practice medicine in our area.