By Monty Siekerman
After 56 years of dental practice in Ada, Dr. Mark Shull retired in August and today he is giving his dental chairs, instruments, and office equipment to Rotary, which will make them available to the people of Belize and Honduras.

The Ada Rotary Club is a member of District 6600, which has an arrangement with M.E.S.A. (Medical Equipment and Supplies Abroad) to collect medical and dental equipment for areas of the world in need.

On this rainy day, Dr. Shull’s equipment was loaded into trucks, taken to a warehouse in Fostoria, and soon will be shipped to Central America.

U.S. dentists will use his equipment in Belize and Honduras when they go there to help the people of those nations. A spokesman for M.E.S.A. said the people there are “very appreciative” of the service provided by American dentists who will now have better equipment to work with.

On behalf of Rotary, M.E.S.A. collects medical and dental equipment for clinics, hospitals, and nursing homes to send many nations.

Dr. Shull graduated from Capital University, the OSU Dental School, and served four and one-half years in the Army Dental Corps before opening his office in Ada in 1962. He practiced at 120 S. Main nearly all of that time.

He and his wife Julia, a retired teacher who passed away about two years ago, were the parents of three daughters, Lorraine Flick of Bowling Green, Sheri Worrall of Westerville, and Stephanie Shull of Columbus.

Dr. Shull, who has his home for sale on South Park Drive, has moved to an apartment at the Otterbein Home in Cridersville, but returns to Ada often, especially for weekly Kiwanis meetings. He has been a member of Kiwanis for 55 years.

He was named Ada Distinguished Citizen of the Year in 2002.