Few communities still have just one doctor, but Lillian is an exception. One man has treated the residents of the small community for the past 25 years, and he has watched both the town and its residents grow up.

 James Pace, 61, moved his practice to Lillian from Ohio 25 years ago after vacationing in the area.

“We kept visiting a friend of mine down here, and finally, after a few years of coming down for vacation, we just decided we liked it and we decided to come down and stay,” he said. “My wife came down to visit, and we knew we were thinking about moving down here, so they started touring the areas, going around from place to place to place. When they came over here, they found no doctor.”

During the same trip, his wife Lucy found the building that Pace still practices in today.

“This building was unoccupied. It was being used as a storage building for antiques,” Pace said. “They talked to him and he said he would rent it out, and my wife called back and said, ‘Well, I got you an office.’ After a few years, we purchased the building.”

Lillian was a much smaller town then, and Pace saw an opportunity to fill a need. He grew up on a farm in a rural community and had always wanted to be a country doctor.

“He’s changed this community,” said Cathy Garlock, who has been Pace’s office manager since he opened the practice. “When he moved his practice here, he gave people the ability to have medical care right here close at hand from minor emergencies to their daily household maintenance. The community has grown and learned to depend on us being here. We really are truly part of our community’s family. There are adults here now who come in with their families who I’ve seen grow up from babies. The community has really grown up with us.”

Pace’s children, Gina and Jesse, also grew up with the practice. Gina is now 32 and works in New York City as a reporter for the New York Daily News, and Jesse is 28 and works as an attorney in Indianapolis.

Pace said the people he serves are more than just patients — they’ve become dear friends.

“We’ve got very loyal patients, and they’re very appreciative and helpful,” he said. “They help out whenever we need some help here, too. It works both ways. I’ve had them come fix stuff out around the building without asking — they just stop by and fix it. If I’m ever sick, they usually help out quite a bit.”

Garlock said she thinks patients keep coming back to Pace not just because of his proximity, but because of the quality of the care they receive and Pace’s humble, down-to-earth demeanor.

“He grew up in an ordinary farming town in Indiana,” she said. “It was not a pretentious family, and he’s not that kind of a person either. He’s just a normal family man. He doesn’t put on airs at all. He’s a really good boss and just a really good honest person.”

Pace said some people may have heard about his own recent medical scare, but he wants his patients and friends to know all is well.

“Recently I missed a couple of weeks of work because I had a pinched nerve in my neck,” he said. “It ended up where I got an epidural injection, which was one of those contaminated ones with the fungus in them, so I’m under surveillance for that right now. But so far, it’s been nine weeks since the injection and I haven’t gotten meningitis yet, so I’m good.”

Although Pace is 61, he said he is not ready to retire anytime soon and wants to continue practicing medicine in Lillian for at least another 10 years.