SMITHFIELD — Dr. John Booker, the longtime veterinarian, did not want to retire until he knew his practice would be in good hands.

“I’ve been thinking it’s time to retire, but when you retire, you would like to have someone taking over that you feel really good about and you know your clients will be happy with,” he said.

Booker, 69, said he had started to feel the tug of retirement. “I would say it’s a big responsibility, and the time had come when somebody else needed to take that responsibility because I have a lot of other things that I need to be doing.”

Booker, a Smithfield native, opened Johnston Animal Hospital on North Bright Leaf Boulevard in April 1968. Over the years, he said, he worked with dozens of employees who showed a true passion for helping animals. And he witnessed miraculous recoveries that had no medical explanation.

Patients, from house cats to circus chimpanzees, sought Booker’s care, he said. In between were horses, goats and cattle. Booker and his children even delivered a pig a time or two.

“You see, I’ve been around animals all my life,” he said. “I thought veterinary medicine would be a way to help people and to help animals and have a good life. You hear people say they love animals. I just have a good feeling when they are around me. I feel like it’s almost a duty.”

So who will carry on Booker’s legacy? Drs. Kathy and Michael Ward took over the practice in early February. The Wards received veterinary degrees from N.C. State University. In Smithfield, they plan to stress the importance of preventive and compassionate health care to the roughly 200 clients that come through the hospital each week.

“Veterinary medicine used to kind of be go to the vet when you needed to,” Michael Ward said. “Pets are family members now. I heard somebody say a guy could come home from work on a busy day and his wife may ignore him. His kids may be too busy. But his pet dog is going to come running and greet him at the door.”

Michael Ward had worked at Willowrun Veterinary Hospital for eight years. His wife worked at Wake Veterinary Hospital and Wilson Veterinary Hospital. Also, she was a visiting professor of anatomy at N.C. State. The couple lived in Alaska for a few months, where Michael Ward was a relief vet and got the chance to treat bears, reindeer and sled dogs.

“I love the challenge of dealing with people and animals,” Kathy Ward said. “They can’t tell you what’s wrong, and so I was just really drawn to that. I think, at this point, most animals are like family members. They are not just kind of like the backyard workhorse any more.”

Booker, who received his veterinary degree from the University of Georgia, plans to stay busy. He has seven grandchildren, a garden and a beach house he enjoys visiting with his wife of 48 years, Shirley. Also, Booker is on the Johnston County Heritage Commission, and he is part of fundraising efforts to build a statue at Bentonville Battleground.

“My grandmother lived to be 85,” he said. “She had projects for a days and weeks. The longest project she ever had was me finishing high school and getting a vet degree. I’m just 69 and not 85 like she was, so I’ve got a number of projects.”

Booker’s presence may be absent from Johnston Animal Hospital, but his picture still hangs on the wall. Michael Ward, who rode bucking horses for five years, wants to continue Booker’s “legacy of good care.” “If someone has a great experience here, I want them to tell everybody, and if they have a horrible experience here, I want them to tell me,” Michael Ward said. “I take that to heart. I am the kind of person ... you tell me something whether it’s good or bad.”

“We are transitioning, and we’d love for them to come out, meet us and get to know us,” Kathy Ward added.