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Chiropractic pioneer Herb Reaver, 93, leaves remarkable legacy

Dr. Herbert Ross Reaver, considered one of chiropractic's true pioneers and known as the "most jailed chiropractor, died at the age of 93.

Dr. Reaver, born April 20, 1906, received his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer School of Chiropractic in 1928 and spent the next 70 years serving his patients and his profession.

When Reaver began practicing chiropractic, it was not yet a licensed profession and its early practitioners were continually harassed by the medical doctors who considered them as a threat to their own authority.

Often, that harassment was enough to send the chiropractor into a different, safer, line of work. Yet, occasionally the medical community came upon individuals who were willing to stand up to it for the good of their patients.

One of those individuals was Dr. Herb Reaver, who refused to bow to the demands that he leave the "healing" to the medical doctors. His determination infuriated his enemies, who accused him of practicing medicine without a license.

During his early career, Dr. Reaver was arrested 12 times and sent to prison four times rather than admit to that false charge. At one point, while he was serving time in jail, Reaver received a letter from B.J. Palmer which said: "I love you Herbie, because you love the things I love. If chiropractic had 1,000 men like you, we could lick the world, and add one million years a day to millions of people, and what a world that would be to live in!"

In 1991, Dr. Terry A. Rondberg and the World Chiropractic Alliance honored "Doc" Reaver for his lifetime of contributions to the profession and for the sacrifices he and his wife Millie made to protect its philosophical foundation. In February 1997, he received the first-ever Lifetime Emeritus Award from the International Chiropractors Association, for which he had served as vice president.

"Our profession has lost a true hero," said Dr. Rondberg. "And I've lost a friend and mentor. But when I think of his life, I can't bring myself to be sad. There's too much happiness in the memories, too much respect for his achievements, too much pride in a profession so noble that it was able to claim him as one of its own. He said recently, 'Don't forget our history. Don't forget me. Don't forget what I went though.' He needn't worry. We will never forget."