All Creatures
The journey of one of MBU alumnus to become one of St. Louis’ six veterinarian surgeons.
He grew up on five acres in the middle of South County in St. Louis with a barn of horses, goats and pet llamas named “Pralines and Cream,” “Soul Searcher” and “Mizpah.” And when Dr. W. Wesley Kimberlin (who goes by “Wes”) turned 1 year old, he was given a pet pony named “Inky Binky.” Once, his family even adopted a pig they found in front of a restaurant in the city.
“It was sort of bizarre because we were bordered on all four sides by neighborhoods, and it was really cool,” Kimberlin said. “I always had animals, and I really enjoyed that.”
So, perhaps it is no surprise that Kimberlin is a board-certified surgeon with the American College of Veterinary Surgeons and an alumnus of Missouri Baptist University (’05).
It seemed early on that his love of animals would play a large role in his chosen career; he wanted to be a vet since middle school. But after he shadowed a veterinary surgeon perform a cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) repair at the age of 16, Kimberlin then knew he wanted to make veterinary surgery his career.
“It was just really, really neat seeing that surgery on a dog — the surgery is similar to an ACL surgery on people,” Kimberlin said. “I still get together with the guy I shadowed that day and play golf sometimes.”
Kimberlin looks back on his time at Missouri Baptist University fondly. “The professors were willing to go above and beyond to help if you needed it,” he said. “Knowing people around campus was very helpful — my teachers knew who I was, and those are relationships that you don’t necessarily have anywhere else.”
One of those professors was Dr. Holly Brand, professor of psychology. Brand and her husband, Todd, did Kimberlin’s marriage counseling when he married his wife a few years after graduation.
“He was conscientious, dependable and engaged, and he took it seriously,” Brand said. “And he was always very, very funny — I remember that standing out about Wes.”
During his time as a student at MBU, an ambitious Kimberlin played volleyball and owned two businesses — a llama-shearing business and a lawn care company. He said the admissions staff at the University of Missouri was especially impressed with his ability to run those companies while going to school full time and making good grades.
After graduating from Missouri Baptist University, Kimberlin received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2010 before going to Mississippi State University for his rotating internship in small animal medicine and surgery. He then did a surgical internship followed by a surgical residency at Veterinary Specialty Services in Manchester, Missouri, where he works today.
Jon Hessel (’03) is the pastor of spiritual formation for The Journey: West County, where Kimberlin attends church. The two attended MBU together and have known each other since Kimberlin was a student at Mehlville High School.
Hessel believes that Kimberlin’s focus, commitment, love of animals and availability has led to his success.
“Wes is well-known and liked, but he also has depth in his relationships; he’s a person you can count on,” Hessel said. “I think he’s always been somebody with an eye for what he wanted — he was very focused.”
Kimberlin performs anywhere from 10 to 14 surgeries on animals each week, and many of those surgeries are fracture repairs, broken bones or CCL repairs — the same type of surgery he saw as a 16-year-old high school student when he fell in love with the field. In addition to the more common pets, he worked on some more exotic animals during veterinary school like tigers, and he occasionally does procedures on animals from the Saint Louis Zoo, including birds and foxes.
“I absolutely love my job; I love being able to help folks out,” Kimberlin said. “When things go really well the owners are really appreciative — I work long hours but I love it.”
While his office works on thousands of pets, Kimberlin finds working with service dogs and therapy dogs an even bigger responsibility. The police consider a service dog a member of the team, not just an animal doing a job.
“One therapy dog would notify the owner three to 10 minutes before the owner had a seizure — it was amazing,” Kimberlin said. “In those cases, we do everything we can to get the animal well and back home as soon as possible — sometimes we have to get creative.”
Kimberlin enjoyed the biblical aspect of MBU and said he grew spiritually during his time there — in a period of life when it is easy to drift away from God.
He still gets together with three of his off campus roommates for an annual golf trip, and he is part of a larger group of graduates who have dinner every few months.
“I felt like God was calling me to go to MBU; I still remember filling out the application in their old gymnasium,” Kimberlin said. “I felt really comfortable with the decision, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
