Dr. W.G. "Curly" Watson has been a fixture in the medical community for almost 70 years and is still working as he approaches in 100th birthday on Feb. 25.

As the chief of obstetrics and gynecology at University Hospital, Dr. Watson still goes into work every day. He rises each morning at 6 a.m. and drives from North Augusta to the Women's Center.

And despite the fact that Feb. 25 is a workday Dr. Watson is not likely to miss, the folks at University Hospital are attempting to drag him away from the work long enough to participate in a 100th birthday celebration at noon on that day.

Joining in the festivities are likely to be many of the more than 15,000 babies he has delivered in his career -- some of whom now include four generations, with Dr. Watson credited with bringing great-grandmother, grandmother, mother and daughter into the world. In fact, two of the partners in his practice were delivered by him. "I can't go anywhere without two or three people coming up and telling me I delivered them," he said.

In addition to his status as the oldest working physician in the country, Dr. Watson is also the oldest living graduate of The Citadel. At University Hospital, where he has spent virtually all of his career, the W.G. Watson M.D. Women's Center was dedicated in his honor in 1999.

Dr. Watson was one of three children and the only son of his farmer/postmaster father and his school teacher mother. As a child and young man growing up in Trenton, he milked cows, plowed fields and studied agriculture under S.C.'s own Strom Thurmond, a teacher in those days.

He received his Bachelor of Science from The Citadel in 1931. At The Citadel Dr. Watson played football. At 22 he became the principal and football coach at Edgefield High School, working for seven years to save money for medical school.

He graduated from the Medical College of Georgia in 1943 and went on to serve as a physician in the U.S. Army from 1945 to 1947. Both his internship and residency were served at University Hospital, and after his military service he returned home to join the medical practice established by the late J.W. Thurmond.

He and his wife, Audrey, have four daughters and one son.