Physicians

Dr. Ralph L. Howell

Dr. Ralph L. Howell was born on May 2, 1960, in Suffolk, Va. He is the son of Dr. R. Leroy Howell and Martha Glenn Howell. He attended the Lower and Upper Schools at Nansemond-Suffolk Academy and graduated in 1978. He entered the College of William & Mary in the fall of 1978 and graduated in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry. He entered the Medical College of Virginia School of Dentistry in the fall of 1985 and graduated in 1989 with a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree. Following graduation, he joined his father in general dentistry practice in Suffolk. He has offices in the downtown area of Suffolk and the Harborview area of Suffolk. He is a member of the Tidewater Dental Association, the Virginia Dental Association and the American Dental Association. He has served as President of the Tidewater Dental Association and the Virginia Dental Association, and is a member of the House of Delegates of the American Dental Association. He is a member of the Pierre Fauchard Academy and the Academy of General Dentistry. He is a Fellow of the Virginia Dental Association, the International College of Dentists and the American College of Dentists.

Dr. Virgil Howell

Dr. Virgil Howell was born on February 22, 1934, in Southampton County, Va.   He was the son of Parker D. Howell and Mattie Carr Howell. He attended Chuckatuck Elementary School and graduated from Chuckatuck High School in 1952. He entered Benjamin Franklin University in Washington, D.C. and received an Associate in Business Administration. After graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served most of his two years of active duty in Karlsruhe, Germany, as part of the Army of Occupation in Europe. After discharge from the U.S. Army, he entered Elon College. Once he had completed the required courses necessary for admission, he entered the Medical College of Virginia School of Dentistry in the fall of 1959. He graduated from the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) in 1963 with a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree. He practiced general dentistry in Norfolk, Virginia, until his retirement in 1992. He was a member of the Tidewater Dental Association, the Virginia Dental Association and the American Dental Association. During his retirement years, he spent most of his time in Kitty Hawk, N.C. and Warm Springs, Va. He returned to Suffolk in the summer of 2002 and was one of the first residents of Lake Prince Woods Retirement Community in Suffolk, VA. He died on April 30, 2003.

Dr. Ralph Leroy Howell

Dr. R. Leroy Howell was born on September 18, 1930, in Southampton County, Va. He is the son of Parker D. Howell and Mattie Carr Howell. He attended Chuckatuck Elementary School and graduated from Chuckatuck High School in 1947. He entered Elon College and graduated in 1951 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry. He then entered the Medical College of Virginia School of Dentistry and graduated in 1955 with a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree. After an Internship in the Department of Oral Surgery at MCV, he entered the military as a Captain in the U.S. Army Dental Corps. He served two years of active duty as a Dental Officer at Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas and at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina. After serving six years in the active reserve, he was discharged as a Major, Dental Corps, U.S. Army Reserve. He has practiced general dentistry in Suffolk, VA, since the fall of 1958 (for over 50 years) and remains actively practicing as of 2025. He is a member of the Tidewater Dental Association, the Virginia Dental Association and the American Dental Association. He served as President of the Tidewater Dental Association and is a Fellow of the Virginia Dental Association, the International College of Dentists, and the American College of Dentists.

Dr. Matthew James Howell

Dr. Matthew James Howell was born on July 19, 1927, in Southampton County, Va. He is the son of Parker D. Howell and Mattie Carr Howell and was better known by the nicknames of Tom and Tommy.” He attended Chuckatuck Elementary School and graduated from Chuckatuck High School in 1945. He then enlisted in the U.S. Navy and spent most of his time as a corpsman at the U.S. Navy Hospital in Portsmouth, Va. He entered Elon College in the spring of 1947 and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry in 1950. He worked as a chemist with the DuPont Corporation in Camden, South Carolina, until the fall of 1955, when he entered the Medical College of Virginia School of Dentistry. He graduated from the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) in 1959 with a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree. He practiced general dentistry in Portsmouth, Virginia, until his retirement in 1999. He was a member of the Tidewater Dental Association, the Virginia Dental Association and the American Dental Association.

Dr. Philip Thomas

Dr. L.L. Eley

Dr Arthur Chambers

Dr. Bernard Godwin

Dr. J. Dwight Bradshaw

Dr. J. Dwight Bradshaw was born on August 18, 1944, in Portsmouth, Va.  He is the son of John W. Bradshaw and Dorothy Chapman Bradshaw. He attended Chuckatuck Elementary School and graduated from Chuckatuck High School in 1962. He entered Virginia Polytechnic Institute in the fall of l962 and graduated in December 1966 with a Bachelor of Science in biology. He worked as a chemist for Standard Brands (Planter’s Peanuts) for four years, taught school for one year, and worked briefly for the newly formed Sidney Harrell Funeral Home. He entered the Medical College of Virginia School of Dentistry in the fall of 1972 and graduated with a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree in 1976. After completing a one-year General Practice Residency at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, he returned to Suffolk and established his dental practice at 5501 Bennett’s Pasture Road in 1977. He is a member of the Tidewater Dental Association, the Virginia Dental Association and the American Dental Association.

Dr. Bernard E. Glover

Dr. Bernard E. Glover was born on April 27, 1933, in the Oakland area of Chuckatuck, Va. He is the son of Albert C. Glover and Vinnie Glover. He attended Oakland Elementary School and graduated from East Suffolk High School in 1953. During high school, he dropped out for two years and worked at Harris Dental Supply Company in Norfolk, VA. During that time, he developed an interest in dentistry, but quickly realized that he needed to complete his high school education. After graduating in 1953, he served two years in the U.S. Army and then attended Morgan State College in Baltimore, Md. He majored in biology and graduated in 1959. He then attended Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry in Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated in 1963 with a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree, followed by a one-year Dental Internship at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Washington, D.C.   He then relocated to Suffolk and established his dental practice at 384 East Washington Street. Around 1972, he purchased and remodeled an Exxon gas station at 811 East Washington Street, converting it into a dental office. He practiced at that location until 2004, when he retired after a 40-year career in general dentistry. He was a member of the Tidewater Dental Association, the Virginia Dental Association, the American Dental Association, the National Dental Association, the Old Dominion Society and the John F. McGriff Dental Society.