Long Time Pharmacist Retires from White Drug

For over three decades, one local resident has been supplying the community with just what the doctor ordered. Last Saturday, Tim Wagner, the pharmacist for White Drug traded in his long white coat for the slower pace of retirement.

An open house was held on May 31 at the store, followed by an evening get-together at the Sidney Country Club.

“What am I going to do now? Whatever I want, I guess,” Wagner laughed. But, after 38 years of working in pharmaceuticals, he admits the transition from a busy work schedule to the freedom to take it slow will take some getting used to.

Wagner said his decision to retire was prompted by the fact that his grandsons are now old enough to go fishing. He also wants to spend some time with his elderly parents in Jamestown, N.D., and get after his list of unfinished projects. “This will also give me a chance to hunt prairie dogs and fly my radio controlled airplanes and indulge in riding motorcycles,” he said.

Originally from Jamestown, N.D., Wagner came to Sidney on July 4 back in 1976 as a newly graduated pharmacist, driving his uncle’s borrowed 1972 Pontiac. “I brought a 10-speed bicycle and the $200 dollars my dad gave me as graduation present. I had to use it for my hotel stay. I came out here broke,” he recalled.

After receiving his degree from the NDSU College of Pharmacy, in Fargo, he took his first job with Sidney Drug. He had originally wanted to move to the Western side of Montana where he could enjoy hunting and skiing but there was limited job availability at that time. After taking a trip to Missoula, which including a brief stop in Miles City, he was told by the town’s pharmacist about the job in Sidney that would become his first real job as a pharmacist.

After working at Sidney Drug for nine years, he spent nine months working for the hospital until he was recruited by White Drug in April of 1985 and has been there ever since. “I am going to miss the people I worked with. We had a great crew. It was like working with friends all of these years. Your job becomes a social aspect of your life as well as your profession,” Wagner said.

Shortly after arriving in Sidney he and his college sweetheart, Cindy, married and together they have three children, Jessica, Nicole and Nick. “We didn’t ever plan on staying in Sidney but we both had steady jobs and this was where we wanted to raise our children,” he said. Today, they have five grandchildren and are anxiously awaiting their sixth, set to arrive in December.

Even though he always had an interest in medicine, Wagner didn’t always want to be a pharmacist. Originally, he was interested in optometry. But the schools that offered that type of study were all out of state and tuition was expensive. During that time, a friend of his was in pharmacy school and suggested he give it a try. Tuition was affordable, so he pursued it. He was also enticed into the medical field because he knew there would always be jobs available, citing our society’s aging population.

As with many professions, Wagner says the use of computers is one of the biggest changes he has seen throughout the years in his chosen profession. The billing of medical insurance is another area that has seen lots of changes as it has evolved. “In the early years people paid with cash and we used typewriters. Nowadays you don’t even need a book keeper because everything can be done online,” he said. Over the years he said the volume of prescriptions that are filled on a daily basis has nearly quadrupled.

Even though he is retiring, he plans to fill in from time to time when people take their vacation leave or are sick.

Before leaving White Drug, Wagner helped train Trisha Kopecky, a recently hired pharmacist from Missoula. She has some 23 years of experience.

“Sidney is a good, warm and friendly community and it was an easy decision to stay here all of these years,” Wagner said.