Thomas Lloyd Foster
1903 - 1984

Thomas Lloyd Foster was born May 24, 1903, near Freeport in Harper County, Kansas. He was the first child of Lloyd Thomas Foster and Nellie (Herst) Foster. Tom worked on his parents' farm and graduated from Sumner County High School at Wellington, Kansas, taught school for two years, and completed a pre-medicine course at K.U. in 1925.

Tom Foster attended medical school at Columbia University in New York City, graduating in 1929. He was married to Mildred Frances Tucker of Wichita on August 24,1927. The Fosters returned to Kansas after Tom completed two years of surgical internship in 1931. Tom practiced surgery briefly in Wichita, then joined the staff at the Larned State Hospital in 1932 where he was assistant superintendant, and became superintendant of the state hospital at Osawatomie in 1940. From 1941 to 1960, Tom was the head of the psychiatric department of Arthur Hertzler Clinic at Halstead, Kansas. He also was one of the five partners who inherited Dr. Hertzler's clinic upon his death in 1947. In 1960, Tom Foster moved to Ponca City Oklahoma, where he was instrumental in the development of the Bi-State Mental Health Foundation located there.

Tom Foster is a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, certified both in psychiatry and mental hospital administration, and experienced in neurology. He is a past president of sveral medical organizations and author of articles in psychiatric and medical journals. Tom Foster retired in 1978 after 50 years of medical practice.