With memories of battlefield medicine fresh in his mind, Dr. Kelsey picked up the reins and resumed his care for the community he loved. (A few lines have survived reflecting his wartime experience. In a letter to Lillian, he writes, “I have been scared stiff, have been hungry, thirsty and cold, but happy most of the time. What more can a man ask?”) Dr. Earl Reed Swift, from down by Kalamazoo, had capably filled in, but he wasn’t a native to Lakeview like Dr. Kelsey, and folks were glad to have the young army surgeon back safe and sound. Lillian was particularly glad, not only to have her husband home in one piece but to have her life partner in community medicine back working at her side. Their two young daughters, Jean and Ruth, who were age 12 and 10 had sorely missed daddy the two years he was gone.