April 1, 1934: One of Six Clustered Victims of Dr. Guy Brewer

Dr. Guy E. Brewer

Ruby Ford, a 26-year-old homemaker, died on April 1, 1934, 11 days after an abortion committed on March 20 "at the combination bachelor dwelling and office" of Dr. Guy E. Brewer, a beloved philanthropist in the small town of Graber, Oklahoma. So popular was Brewer that the husband of one of his six abortion victims was fired from his job in retaliation for reporting the death to the police.

Brewer had graduated from the University of Louisville in 1906 and had been practicing medicine in Garber for 21 of the 29 years he had been a physician. He supported young men during their university studies, maintaining houses for them to live in. Those he had educated over the years rushed immediately to his defense. Though Brewer had spent many long years helping boys and young men, his impact on women's lives was evidently lightning-fast.

I believe that Ruby was the first woman to die under Brewer's dubious care. The other dead patients are:

• Hermoine Fowler, a 20-year-old coed, who died in June of 1934
• Doris Jones, a 20-year-old mother of two, who died in April of 1935
• Wanda Lee Gray, age 20, who died around 1935
• Myrtle Rose, age 21, whose death date I've been unable to determine
• Elizabeth Shaw, age 23, whose death date I've been unable to determine

Brewer entered guilty pleas and was sentenced to six four-year sentences, to run concurrently, for the six abortion deaths.

Watch Abortion Doctor: The Six Dead Patients of Guy Brewer on YouTube.

Source:

• "Murder Charges Multiply On Philanthropic Doctor," Miami (OK) Daily News-Record, May 5, 1935