Dr. Joseph B. Reed delivered Dr. Nathaniel S. Linger when he was born. Decades later, the two Buckhannon physicians stood in the same room to receive honors from the West Virginia Academy of Family Physicians.
The academy presented Linger with its 2025 Family Doctor of the Year Award and Reed with its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award recently.
Linger serves the Buckhannon and Upshur County community. The academy said he returned home to practice so he could care for patients of all ages in the community that raised him, embodying what it called “the relational and community-centered spirit of the specialty.”
Reed has practiced family medicine in Buckhannon for more than half a century. The academy said he has cared for generations of local families throughout his career and remained deeply engaged in both his community and his profession. The Lifetime Achievement Award was a first — the academy had never before presented the honor.
The academy called Reed delivering Linger at birth “perhaps the most meaningful moment of the day.”
“Two physicians. Two generations. One shared commitment to caring for their community,” the academy wrote. “This is Family Medicine at its finest.”
