Dr. Stephen Paxton
Veterinarian & Practice Owner
In 7th or 8th grade, Steve was walking down the road with a friend and his friend’s dog, Boots. Boots decided to chase a squirrel into the road just as a car was coming—the car’s bumper nicked Boots, but luckily the dog was okay aside from being a little sore. As that scary scene unfolded in front of him, Steve knew he wanted to help his friend’s dog. It was at this time Steve began to think about becoming a veterinarian.
Steve grew up in Traverse City, Michigan, as the youngest of four kids. He worked on a horse farm throughout junior and senior high school, another key factor in his decision to work with animals. After high school, Steve earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Biology and Management from Michigan State University. He realized he wanted to go back to his childhood calling of veterinary medicine and returned to MSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine, graduating in 1987. In 1991, after working as an associate veterinarian in a mixed animal practice, he moved his family to Ludington and opened the Animal Hospital of Ludington!
As a veterinary professional, Dr. Paxton especially enjoys the variety of everyday general practice, interacting with clients and patients, and performing soft tissue and orthopedic surgery. He also enjoys unraveling the mysteries of a sick animal and helping that animal become healthy again.
Dr. Paxton lives with his wife Patty, who he’s been married to since 1979. Their oldest daughter Leslie, became a veterinarian herself and now works as an associate veterinarian at the Animal Hospital of Ludington! Their son Stephen, works as a 911 dispatcher as he attends college. Their youngest daughter, Claire, is in college studying nutrition and exercise physiology. The family opened their home to two foreign exchange students, Bele from Germany and Maren from Norway, who they also consider their adopted daughters.
The Paxton family would not be complete without their three dogs; Twig and Sage who are English Setters and crazy about bird hunting! And Meeah is their Goldendoodle who is Patty’s shadow around the house and enjoys naps on the cool tile floors. Dr. Paxton, Twig and Sage are an avid woodcock banding team. Dr. Paxton is one of 100 outdoorsmen licensed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to band woodcock chicks using highly trained pointing dogs during the months of April and May. This program is designed to monitor the populations of this very interesting ground dwelling, migratory game bird.
Dr. Paxton also is an accomplished guitarist who plays in his church band and is a passionate John Denver fan. He even arranged for John Denver’s former guitarist, Pete Huttlinger to perform an awesome concert at the local community college.