E.B. and Lura Gray’s home is located right next door to the place where E.B. grew up. Across the street was the home of Arlis and Willie Mae Hodges. Arlis was once a barber in Livingston. The Hodges had three children, Virginia, Houston, and Earl Glenn. When Earl Glenn was just a toddler, he somehow managed to topple over in a tub filled with water, and when his mother found him, he was not breathing. Her screams brought E.B.’s mother, Mrs. Era Gray, running across the garden lot between the two houses. There was a wire fence around the garden, but that didn’t stop Mrs. Gray. She jumped the fence and took the limp and lifeless baby from Mrs. Hodges and began to work with the him. It seemed hopeless, but Mrs. Gray didn’t give up. In desperation, she began to swing the baby by his heels, and when she did that, water began to pour from his mouth and nose. While all this was going on, Dr. Breeding was summoned to come help with the situation. When he arrived, the baby had not only started to cough and breath again, but was crying loudly. Dr. Breeding determined that Earl Glenn would be alright, and he did make a full recovery. E.B. and Earl Glenn continue to be friends and talk often by telephone.

E.B. said Dr. Breeding never turned anyone away who needed his help no matter what the circumstances. He was often seen wearing shirts with the collars and cuffs frayed around the edges. He felt taking care of his patients was more important than an outward appearance. He lived in the home on Spring Street until his death at age 75.

An obituary appeared in the Livingston Enterprise in 1951 that says this:

Dr. W.M. Breeding, 75, of Livingston, died Friday, August 31, in Lady Ann Hospital in Livingston. Dr. Breeding who earlier in the year was awarded a certificate in a ceremony held here for "50 Years Of Medical Service to Humanity," had been ill for several months.

Dr. Breeding was graduated from the University of Tennessee Medical School, then located in Nashville, in 1900. He has practiced in Overton County since that date, with the exception of three years.

Born in White County near Sparta, Dr. Breeding came to the Overton County Fair in 1900 and remained here for 50 years. He began his medical practice at the age of 24 years and was very active in his practice until the last few months of his illness.

When Dr. Breeding came to Livingston, there were only four other doctors practicing in the town. In 1903 he was married to the daughter of Dr. Burks and to them were born three sons and three daughters. Mrs. Breeding died in 1927 and a few years later, Dr. Breeding married Miss Allie Chisam who was killed in an automobile accident in 1949.

The general practitioner claimed that he saw the first smallpox in Overton County since the Civil War. During the period he was county health officer, there were two smallpox epidemics in the county.

In 1912, Dr. Breeding reportedly diagnosed the first case of hookworm in Tennessee. During that year he concentrated on the hookworm disease program sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation. He has said that over twenty percent of the school children of the county had hook worm at one time but there was only one fatality.

Survivors included three daughters, Mrs. A.L. Dean, Livingston, Mrs. T.F. Windham, Crossville, and Mrs. Kenneth Forshee of Indianapolis, Indiana; three sons, Lee A. Breeding, Nashville; William Breeding, Jr., Crossville, and Edward S. Breeding of Linden. Three step children, W.E. Chisam, Spencer; Mrs. Tom Bond, Soddy; and Mrs. Harry Kelly of Bridgeport, Alabama.