PHOTO BY CLAIRE FRANELL
Good Shepherd Community Health Foundation and the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Good Shepherd Medical Center Monday for the foundation’s new Honor Tree Program.
The program is an opportunity for members of the community to recognize people who have greatly influenced their lives. Loved ones or colleagues can choose an Honor Tree from the 31 trees which were planted along the hospital’s walking trail last fall. Near the designated tree, the foundation will place a plaque bearing the honoree’s name.
“I think that everyone in every family has a special story about someone that they would like to share,” said Good Shepherd Community Health Foundation Executive Director Bob Green. “The purpose of this program is to allow them to share it for the public.”
An Honor Tree may serve as a memorial for a deceased person or as a tribute to someone still living.
During Monday’s ceremony, the foundation unveiled Honor Tree plaques for Dr. Marvin John, Drs. Bruce and Virginia Till, and Bob and Ginny Marshall.
Dr. John served in the medical field for over 58 years. He is remembered for developing the Vance John Memorial Hospice, which he directed until shortly before his death.
“My dad lived his life to the fullest. He loved and cared for all that came to him,” said John’s daughter, Carollyn Robinson, who currently directs the Vance John Memorial Hospice.
“Good Shepherd Health Care System played a major part of his life,” she said. “Having a tree on campus seems so fitting. It’s like his home away from home.”
Robinson explained that Dr. John’s family chose to honor him with a katsura tree (native to eastern Asia) because of his experience visiting China during his service in the Korean War, and because of the tree’s colors and sweet fragrance.
Dr. Bruce Till, an ophthalmologist, and his late wife, Virginia, an anesthesiologist, began their medical service in Hermiston and later moved to Pendleton. Green spoke at the ceremony on behalf of the Till family.
“Good Shepherd Community Health Foundation was honored by being named as a part of their trust, and so we thought we should honor them by naming a tree for them,” he said.
Luanne Brownfield, a hospice nurse at Good Shepherd, designated an Honor Tree for her mother, Ginny Marshall, and her late father, Bob Marshall, who served in the Korean War and later as a policeman.
Brownfield hopes that her parents’ Honor Tree will serve as a reminder for her nephews, “so that they can look and say, ‘That’s Grandma and Grandpa’s tree,’ and maybe (it) can get big enough that they can have a picnic under it.”
She described her father as “a glorious man” who found great joy in his family and in fishing.
“He lived for the moment of this last year that he could get a fish to each and every one of the family members — and particularly to Mom so that she could have canned salmon.”
Brownfield brought to the ceremony a shadow box which she had made to commemorate her father’s life. She read an inscription in the box:
“You’ve always taught that courage can be quiet, strength can be gentle, honesty counts a lot, love always wins in the end, and family is everything.”
An Honor Tree can be designated through a $1,000 donation to Good Shepherd Community Health Foundation on behalf of the honoree. Upon receipt of the first $500, GSCHF will order the Honor Tree plaque. Monthly payment options are available for the remaining 50 percent of the donation.
Donations to GSCHF help support programs such as Healthy Communities Coalition, Hermiston Public Library, Hermiston Warming Station, Agape House Food Pantry, and Umatilla-Morrow Head Start.
Green says that an Honor Tree plaque is a lasting and meaningful way to pay tribute to those who have made a difference in this community. “It’s not just on a wall; it’s next to a living plant and will be there for people to see for a long time.”
For more information on the Honor Tree Program, call the Good Shepherd Community Health Foundation at 541-667-3419.
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