MARIETTA - Dr. Richard Hagood sat in his office on Monday as his daughter packed boxes, dusting off years of files and memories.

"I don't really want to retire. I don't know what I'll do with all the free time, but I know that it's time," Hagood said.

The 70-year-old obstetrics and Ob/Gyn doctor retired Monday after 37 years as a Marietta physician. Hagood grew up in the city on a farm off Bells Ferry Road that had a 15-acre lake and horses.

"I rode horses every day, I just loved being outdoors," he said.

Hagood's father was Dr. Murl Hagood, a Marietta surgeon who was one of the founding doctors of Kennestone Hospital. His grandfather was Dr. George Hagood, a general physician who practiced in Marietta during the turn of the 20th century and visited his patients by horseback before acquiring a Model T Ford. Richard's brother, Felton, is a colon and rectal surgeon in Marietta.

"We actually graduated together from Emory in 1966," Richard Hagood said of Felton.

"We were in the SAE fraternity together, roomed together several times. We've been very close over the years. I'd say he's my best friend," Hagood said as his lip quivered and he looked out his office window, tears welling up in his eyes. "We're just very close."

Hagood graduated from Marietta High School, where he met his wife, Dana Cain Hagood. He attended Clemson University from 1957 to '59, until he realized he wanted to be a doctor and transferred to Emory.

"I went to Clemson thinking I would be a vet or a forest ranger, but I realized I was really good at biology and the sciences and just decided I'd like to work with people as a doctor," he said.

After graduating from Emory in 1962 with an undergraduate degree, Hagood stayed at Emory for medical school and completed his residency at Grady Hospital. Hagood was in the reserves for the Air Force, but because of the Berry Plan, he was not considered eligible for active duty until after his medical education was complete.

"I finished my residency on July 1, 1970, and two days later I was in Altus, Okla., for active duty. I have to say, I did not like it. Too dry and windy, I was ready to get back home," he said with a laugh.

He returned to Marietta after his two years of service were finished, and joined Cobb General Hospital, where he practiced for 14 years before opening his own private practice off Cherokee Street at Kennestone Gates in 1986.

Other than practicing medicine, Hagood said his biggest passion is golf. He was a member of the golf team during his high school days, traveling every Friday with the team for matches. He said that he and his friends would play as much as they could at the Marietta Country Club, but Wednesdays and Thursdays were absolutely off-limits.

"Wednesday was men's day and Thursday was the ladies' day. Any other day, the juniors couldn't get on the course until after 4. And you didn't dare try to play on the ladies' day. They would play, eat lunch, then go out to play again, and you just knew not to try to interrupt them," he said.

Hagood said he, his brother and a dozen other local doctors would play golf every Sunday at noon at the Marietta Country Club for almost 30 years.

"We called it the doctors group, but there were some lawyers too, really just whoever showed up we played with," Hagood said. "We had three groups of four we'd play against, and I won't go into the betting because, well, we really only gained or lost about fifteen or twenty dollars. But, unless it was raining, we were out there every Sunday. I loved it."

Hagood said he hopes retirement will give him a chance to spend more time with his other hobby, reading.

"I like mystery and suspense novels, authors like Stuart Woods and Sandra Brown. I may even pick up a few other hobbies. I just don't want to get bored," he said.

Hagood said he's delivered more than 4,500 babies in his career, and would only take about twelve patients a month at his private practice.

"It was very important to me to have a personal relationship with my patients, not just to remember them but to know them. I started my own practice because I was delivering 100 babies a month at Cobb General, and I just didn't like that. Everything was just lost in the masses, and I felt like there was no relationship being created. My patients have been so faithful to me, I have several that I delivered them and then their babies, people that have been coming to me for decades. They've always been so wonderful, and made me so proud of my career," he said.

Denise Ogden, of Marietta, first visited Hagood as a patient when she was 17 in 1973, and followed him to his private practice where he has remained her gynecologist.

"As a 17-year-old not knowing much about what would happen getting a female check-up, I was absolutely scared to death. But he was such a family man, so sweet and caring and smart, he just made it easy for me and I could trust him," Ogden said. "He always took the extra step to help his patients, and was never too busy to take your calls or call you back. He's just a great man and the best doctor you could ever have."