Owensboro Health | Lift | June 2019

4 • Momentum Momentum A MUHLENBERG COUNTY SPECIAL SECTION Many of life’s problems have been solved before breakfast at a sleepy radio station, 105.5 WKYA, in Greenville, Kentucky. Topics range from recipes and relationships to matters of friendship and faith. At the center of it all are Billy Steele and Wendell Miller — a local barber and electrician respectively — who keep the conversation and music flowing. Once a week Billy and Wendell invite the same guest to their show, Dr. Marshall Edward Prunty. Dr. Prunty has been a part of the community for several decades and was recently appointed as the hospitalist at Owensboro Health Muhlenberg Community Hospital. When he’s on-air he can be Dr. Prunty or just Eddie, depending on whether or not the topic is medical. Dr. Prunty is a reserved and contemplative figure who raised three daughters along with his wife, Melinda, who is now a state representative. He is the grandfather of eight and said he enjoys having grandsons but he always enjoyed having daughters at home. “Mothers with all boys will often say they understand. I say ‘No, you don’t because, for example, when you’re on vacation and your boys say they’re going somewhere they just go do boy things. When I’m on vacation with my girls, they will tell me what they’re going to do and then say, ‘Well, don’t you want to go with us?’ A boy would never do that. Girls have a way of including you, whether you want to be or not,” he stated with a chuckle. While he can certainly hang with Billy and Wendell when it comes to pop culture or memories of days gone by, Dr. Prunty often touches on the subject of faith by reading from sacred texts or discussing moral quandaries. “My faith is just a part of who I am. It’s not a separate part. It runs all the way through me,” he said. It is this attitude about faith that results in conversations on theology that are bookended by conversations on basketball and colonoscopies. For Dr. Prunty this seems natural because all of these things flow together in his day-to-day life. The flow of conversation on the show comes from the natural abilities of Billy and Wendell to direct it while making you feel as if you are just sitting in the living room of an old friend. They have been doing the show together for over a decade and have known each other since high school. Dr. Prunty started coming on the air with them in 2013. His initial purpose was to make the community aware that his practice would be part of the Owensboro Health system, but his role evolved into a weekly appearance. Now, every Thursday morning, you can tune in to 105.5 WKYA between 6 and 8 a.m. to catch Billy, Wendell and Dr. Prunty (or just Eddie) taking on the world or just taking it all in. You never know what you might learn when they go live from Bancroft Road. Live from Bancroft Road