PENDLETON – Robert W. Pfeiffer first opened the doors of Pendleton Chiropractic Clinic on July 25, 1962. He’s still located at 350 S.W. First St., and will welcome friends to an open house from 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday to celebrate his 45th anniversary.

Pfeiffer was born in Eugene and trained in Portland, but he left behind the Western side of the state without a glance after a stint in the Armed Forces.

“I was tired of the rain,” he said. “I didn’t realize it until I was stationed in central Texas. When I got my license I started looking for a drier climate.”

Pfeiffer initially set up practice in Heppner and then moved to Pendleton. He said his initial reception wasn’t exactly a warm one from Pendleton’s medical community.

“In the beginning, one doctor here accepted me as a member of the profession,” he said. “Several others were adamant against me. I felt sure that two to three patients who came here were sent as stool pigeons by them. They wanted me to bend the rules, and I didn’t.”

Pfeiffer said chiropractors are more accepted by the medial profession now because students are now taught about alternative medicine while they are being trained. For example, he said students at Oregon Health & Science University hear from representatives of massage therapy, acupuncture and chiropractic fields.

Pfeiffer said he became interested in becoming a chiropractor when he was quite young. He had fallen, severely hurting his neck and a few months later began to suffer from severe allergies. A neighbor who had taken to her bed due to severe allergies for nine months out of the year had visited a chiropractor and over a two year period, had gotten back on her feet.

“I’d gone the medical route with the allergies,” he said. “I suffered twice from severe anaphylactic shock. That spring I went to the chiropractor, he adjusted my neck and that was it.”

Pfeiffer has been continuing his education since he began practicing and is now a board-certified chiropractic orthopedist. He’s also been recognized for his work in diagnosing and treating people suffering from mild traumatic brain injury and post-concussion syndrome. He said many doctors have told him that people suffering mild brain injuries fall through the cracks medically speaking.

“I tell them, ‘Send them to me,’ ” he said. “We have a pretty high success rate in helping these people turn their lives around.”

His wife, Lee Pfeiffer, whose training as a trauma nurse helped them establish the treatment plan estimates their success rate is 98 to 99 percent.

Pfeiffer said the few studies that have been mounted of people who use chiropractic care indicate that people who visit chiropractors spend about 30 percent less on medicines than those who don’t. He said many insurance companies now realize the importance of chiropractic care.

As he looks back on his years of practice, Pfeiffer said one thing means more than anything else.

“The most important thing has been to make more people happy and pain-free,” he said.