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Myrtle Lockwood

Credit: Findagrave.com. Shared by Milton Hook.

Lockwood, Sheridan Alfred (1874–1934) and Myrtle Ethel (Spencer) (1876–1947)

By Milton Hook

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Milton Hook, Ed.D. (Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan, the United States). Hook retired in 1997 as a minister in the Greater Sydney Conference, Australia. An Australian by birth Hook has served the Church as a teacher at the elementary, academy and college levels, a missionary in Papua New Guinea, and as a local church pastor. In retirement he is a conjoint senior lecturer at Avondale College of Higher Education. He has authored Flames Over Battle Creek, Avondale: Experiment on the Dora, Desmond Ford: Reformist Theologian, Gospel Revivalist, the Seventh-day Adventist Heritage Series, and many magazine articles. He is married to Noeleen and has two sons and three grandchildren.

First Published: December 17, 2025

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Sheridan and Myrtle Lockwood were medical doctors and missionaries who pioneered the Kobe Sanitarium in Japan in 1902.

Early Experiences

In 1890, Nelson and Armeda Elizabeth (Jacobs) Lockwood were a Methodist family living in Kansas with their three children, Sheridan Alfred, Rollin, and Clara Augusta. They had married in 18731 and their first child, Sheridan, was born at Independence, Kansas, on October 18, 1874. The family moved to Calistoga, California, and later attended Seventh-day Adventist meetings held by Elder H. A. St. John in the district schoolhouse. Sheridan declared he was converted and baptized by Elder Ings in October 1890. On completion of academy-level studies Sheridan attended Healdsburg College from 1893 to 1895, majoring in science. He then began training as a nurse at the Battle Creek Sanitarium2 and later transferred to its sister institution, the American Medical Missionary College in Chicago, Illinois, to pursue medical studies.3 He graduated as a Doctor of Medicine in October 1900.4

Myrtle Ethel Spencer, of Iowa, graduated as a Doctor of Medicine in the same class as Sheridan.5 They married on October 16, 1901, their service performed by Elder W. W. Sharp. Together they served on the staff of Portland Sanitarium, Oregon, throughout much of 1901 and 1902.6 At the time, Sheridan also published an occasional article for the Pacific Health Journal.7

Missionaries in Japan

Sheridan and Myrtle answered the call to medical mission work in Japan. They did not know Japanese, but upon arrival in the country in October 1902, they began studying it as much as time allowed. Their priority was establishing medical missionary work as a means of witnessing to their Seventh-day Adventist faith. They found several people in Kobe who were familiar with similar work in America. They urged Sheridan to begin his work in Kobe. There, a suitable house was rented and equipped with the basics. Sheridan and Myrtle opened to receive patients on June 1, 1903. A few months later, in October, B. E. Rees and his wife, both trained nurses from the Portland Sanitarium, arrived as assistants on Sheridan’s recommendation.8

Despite its small size, the humble institution was listed from the start as the Kobe Sanitarium.9 A few months after the opening, a branch opened in the city. It was operated by Drs. Kawasaki and Kumashiro and assisted by a trained nurse from St. Helena Sanitarium, Mr. Kawano.10 Sheridan acted as consulting physician for this branch. He and Myrtle trained Japanese nurses. Sheridan also served as bookkeeper and helped establish the Kobe SDA Church, which had approximately fifty members.11

The work done by Sheridan and Myrtle prospered, but the institution was absorbed by another sanitarium. They returned to their homeland in 1907.12

Further Work in America

Sheridan and Myrtle went into private practice on their return to America. Their only child, Frances Louise, was born in 1913.13

In 1926, Sheridan and Myrtle returned to denominational employment, serving as physicians at Paradise Valley Sanitarium for five years.14 They then returned to private practice in San Diego. In 1934, Sheridan suffered briefly with pneumonia and passed away in Paradise Valley Sanitarium on May 29. He rests in Glen Abbey Memorial Park, National City, California.15 Myrtle passed away on February 5, 1947, and rests in the same cemetery.16

Sources

Field, F. N. “The Japan Mission.” ARH, June 1, 1905.

Lockwood, S. A. “Influenza.” Pacific Health Journal, December 1901.

Lockwood, Sheridan Alfred.” Secretariat Files, RG 21, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Silver Spring, MD (GCA).

“Medical Students.” The Gospel of Health. June/July 1897.

“Myrtle Ethel (Spencer) Lockwood.” Find A Grave Memorial ID 76860648. Accessed December 5, 2025. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/76860648/myrtle_ethel-lockwood.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association. Various years. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.

“Sheridan Alfred Lockwood.” FamilySearch. Accessed December 5, 2025. https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/pedigree/landscape/KPQ6-X8P.

“Sheridan Alfred Lockwood.” Find A Grave Memorial ID 76860417. Accessed December 5, 2025. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/76860417/sheridan_alfred-lockwood.

Notes

  1. “Sheridan Alfred Lockwood,” FamilySearch, accessed December 5, 2025, https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/pedigree/landscape/KPQ6-X8P.↩

  2. Sheridan Alfred Lockwood, Questionnaire Blank, October 11, 1905. Secretariat Files, RG 21, Record 114929, GCA.↩

  3. “Medical Students,” The Gospel of Health, June/July 1897, 79-81.↩

  4. Sheridan Alfred Lockwood, Questionnaire Blank, October 11, 1905.↩

  5. “Medical Students,” The Gospel of Health, June/July 1897.↩

  6. Sheridan Alfred Lockwood, Questionnaire Blank, October 11, 1905.↩

  7. E.g., Lockwood, S. A., “Influenza,” Pacific Health Journal, December 1901, 293-294.↩

  8. F. N. Field, “The Japan Mission,” ARH, June 1, 1905, 4-6.↩

  9. E.g., Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (1905), 114.↩

  10. F. N. Field, “The Japan Mission,” ARH, June 1, 1905, 4-6.↩

  11. Sheridan Alfred Lockwood, Questionnaire Blank, October 11, 1905.↩

  12. “Sheridan Alfred Lockwood,” Find A Grave Memorial ID 76860417, September 21, 2011, accessed December 5, 2025, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/76860417/sheridan_alfred-lockwood.↩

  13. “Sheridan Alfred Lockwood,” FamilySearch, accessed December 5, 2025, https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/pedigree/landscape.KPQ6-X8P.↩

  14. E.g., Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (1930), 348-349.↩

  15. “Sheridan Alfred Lockwood,” Find A Grave Memorial ID 76860417, accessed December 5, 2025, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/76860417/sheridan_alfred-lockwood.↩

  16. “Myrtle Ethel (Spencer) Lockwood,” Find A Grave Memorial ID 76860648, September 21, 2011, accessed December 5, 2025, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/76860648/myrtle_ethel-lockwood.↩

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Hook, Milton. "Lockwood, Sheridan Alfred (1874–1934) and Myrtle Ethel (Spencer) (1876–1947)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. December 17, 2025. Accessed October 15, 2026. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=9HOE.

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Hook, Milton. "Lockwood, Sheridan Alfred (1874–1934) and Myrtle Ethel (Spencer) (1876–1947)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. December 17, 2025. Date of access October 15, 2026, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=9HOE.

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Hook, Milton (2025, December 17). Lockwood, Sheridan Alfred (1874–1934) and Myrtle Ethel (Spencer) (1876–1947). Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved October 15, 2026, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=9HOE.

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