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48 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, January 27, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 24, 2004 Shirey�s cheery red sweater (and matching socks) has been his trademark for two decades. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Chaplain brings good cheer to Providence patients By BILL KETTLER Mail Tribune Light seems to follow the Rev. Joe Shirey on his morning rounds. "Hey, Jerry! How are you?" the priest says brightly as he pops in on Jerry Needham, sitting in a wheelchair in his room at Providence Medford Medical Center. "Stayin’ vertical," says Needham, 65, managing a thin smile. "So am I," says Shirey, 88. Needham looks glum. Doctors have told him his leg is going to have to come off, and it’s two days before Christmas. Advertisement "My life is fallin’ apart," he tells Shirey. "That makes two of us," the priest says, and Needham smiles again. Shirey tells him about other patients he has known during his 22 years as a hospital chaplain. Some, he recalls, had so much leg pain "they wished the doctors would take it off." "We’ll get it off and see what happens," Needham says. The priest tells him about a guy he knew in Spokane, right after World War II, a quadruple amputee. "He was the man people used to go to see when they were down in the mouth. He was president of the liar’s club — just an indomitable spirit." Shirey shares a few more stories and gives Needham Communion. Then he walks briskly down the hall to his next patient. "You get your exercise in this job," he quips, his red sweater and red socks providing a flash of color in the hospital on a gray morning. The ensemble makes him look like he decked himself out for Christmas, but the splashes of red are as much a part of his daily uniform as his cleric’s collar. "I just started (wearing them) and people liked the idea," he says. "This was 20 years ago. They said it was nice to see something besides black and white in the hospital." The socks, always worn with sandals, long ago became his trademark. "I’ve had mail addressed to ‘Father Red Socks, Providence Hospital.’ " The next name on his list is a new patient, so Shirey stops to check the man’s chart. "I always look at the chart before I see a person for the first time," he says. "I want to get a little background. I don’t want to wise off to someone who’s dying of cancer." The Roseburg native came to Providence to become a chaplain at an age when most people head for the rocking chair. "I think I want a people job," he told his Jesuit brethren in Portland after he retired from teaching and managing church schools. "The next thing I knew I was working here in Medford," he said. "That was 1982." He had planned to become a priest even before he was drafted early in 1941. It was supposed to be a one-year hitch, but things changed when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Five years in the Army passed before he could start his studies. He worked in Washington state, Montana and Alaska before finally returning to Oregon. Now he comes to the hospital four days a week — Thursday through Sunday — and puts in 20 hours visiting with veterans in the White City treatment center. The schedule leaves little time off, but Shirey doesn’t mind. "I like doing what I’m doing," he says. "This is where I should be." Yes, he says, the work can be emotionally draining, but long ago he realized that patients need his support, not sorrow. "You can make yourself useless by getting too emotional," he says. "I don’t want some surgeon working on me with tears in his eyes." He has no plans to stop any time soon, although he admits a case of sciatica has slowed him down. "I’ll let the Lord decide for me," he says. "As long as I can do this, I will. I’d rather wear out than rust out. I don’t want to just sit and watch the grass grow." Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers