Dr. Normington J. Schofield, a chiropractor and a third generation Beacon resident, will utilize a family homestead as his new office location.  The stately Victorian is located on the corner of North Ave. and Tompkins Ave. in Beacon and has a long history as a family home and a place of community service.

 

The property was purchased in 1920 from the Tompkins family by Dr. Schofield’s great uncle, Dr. John R. Turiga.  Dr. Turiga, a psychiatrist in Matteawan Psychiatric Hospital, lived in the house and ran his private practice there from 1920 to about 1945.  At that time, the house came into the possession of Dr. Schofield’s grandparents, Normington Schofield, Esq. and Mary A. Turiga Schofield (Dr. Turiga’s sister).  Normington Schofield is remembered as a prominent lawyer, a local judge and eventually a federal bankruptcy judge.  Judge Schofield also ran many aspects of his private law practice from the home. His wife Mary was a very active member of the Beacon community.  She served on the Beacon School Board and founded the Beacon Junior League.

 

Dr. Schofield states that, “Many of my patients today remember this Schofield home as a local gathering place for them as kids in the 1950s and 1960s where they would come to play baseball and basketball in the yard and always be welcome for a meal in Mary’s kitchen.  Other people remember being clients of attorney Schofield here.  Some of my elderly patients even recall being patients of Dr. Turiga in this house in the 1920s and 1930s.”

 

Judge Schofield and his wife Mary raised their three children Suzanne, Stephen and H. Normington (Dr. Schofield’s father) in the home.  Mary lived in the home until 1989 when Dr. Schofield’s parents, Helene and H. Normington, acquired the home. 

 

“At the time my parents bought the house, I was attending chiropractic school, my oldest sister was attending law school, and my other two sisters were attending undergraduate colleges.  My father knew the history of the property, saw the potential of the location and purchased it hoping that one day one of my sisters or I would use the house in a professional setting.  Last year I obtained the house with the intent to locate my practice in it.”

 

Young Schofield would like to carry on the family heritage which was already established in Beacon by his forefathers.  “I believe that if we build on the foundations of our family history, we establish deeper commitments and roots in our community, and those before us will be remembered more clearly and appreciated more completely.  I can only hope to do justice to the wonderful family history with which I have been blessed.”

 

Through vision, determination, and hard work, Schofield obtained the necessary approvals and accomplished the lengthy and costly renovation needed to convert the house to commercial usage.  “I took extra care not to disturb the character of the home while making the necessary changes.”

 

In March of this year, Schofield moved his practice to the Victorian home and began yet another chapter of his family’s history there.  “My patients love the new office. Everyone agrees that the aura of the old home makes for a wonderful healing environment which is just not present in most offices today.”  Schofield’s long term vision is to establish a holistic healing center in the house.  “I think that the Beacon community would benefit immensely from such a center. I am looking for holistically orientated practitioners to join me at this center.”  Schofield is currently in contract with an acupuncturist, a homeopath and two psychologists.  He sees the center as an alternative adjunct to traditional medical services.  “I want to give our community the option to care for themselves in a natural, holistic way.”

 

Dr. Schofield is a graduate of St. John’s Elementary School in Beacon and Our Lady of Lourdes High School in Poughkeepsie.  He obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree from Fairfield University in 1988 followed by a Doctor of Chiropractic Degree from New York Chiropractic College in 1992.  He then chose to return home to serve the community in which he was raised.  He has run a chiropractic practice in the Beacon area since 1993.  He can be reached at 845-831-1225.