© 2006-2011 Tri-State Chaplaincy Committee

The chaplain’s office was originally located in the basement of City Hospital, and was moved to various other locations and buildings throughout the years. With the addition of the new West Wing on the first floor in 1976-77, the chaplain’s office was moved to just inside the doors to Pediatrics. Pediatrics has since moved to the sixth floor and the West Wing now houses the Pastoral Care Department, the Human Resources office, the Accounting Department, and other offices.

The first chaplain, Rev. Varner, was succeeded after a few years by the Rev. William Mautz. Around 1966 the Reverend Clark Allison became the chaplain, and served for eighteen years until 1984. Other chaplains since that time were Rev. Guy Butera, Rev. Charles Parry, Rev. Terry Smith, and interim chaplain Rev. Gene Toot. Rev. Duane Hetzer is the current chaplain. Rev. Hetzer has served the office since 2001.

The chaplaincy program has continued to grow throughout the years and has become deeply appreciated by clergy and laity of the area.

History of the Tri-State Chaplaincy Committee

The year 2011 marks the 50th anniversary of the chaplaincy program

at East Liverpool City Hospital. The original service, which was sponsored by district ministerial associations, stemmed from an idea conceived by a number of pastors.

The initial organizational meeting was held December 28, 1961. Attending that meeting were the Rev. Charles Kampmeyer, Pastor of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church; the Rev. Albert Rodenhausen, First Baptist; John N. Mostoller, former minister of the First Church of Christ; the Rev. William Claghorn, pastor of the Westminster United Presbyterian Church of Chester, and the Rev. Arden Beck of the First Methodist Church of Wellsville.

At that meeting, a proposed chaplaincy program was formulated in cooperation with Miss Nell Robinson, who was at that time the superintendent at City Hospital; J.D. Thompson, the president of the Hospital Board; and Dr. John Hayes of the Osteopathic Hospital.

After presenting the program to various ministerial associations of the Tri-State area, the movement was approved and accepted with a few suggested alterations. It was agreed that the program be directed by a hospital chaplaincy committee consisting of representatives from the various associations of the area.

The committee for the first year was comprised of Rev. Rodenhausen, chairman; Rev. Beck, Wellsville representative; the Rev. C. Donald Vogel, pastor of the Chester First United Presbyterian Church, representative and treasurer; Rev. Kampmeyer, East Liverpool representative and secretary; and Pastor John N. Mostoller.

It became the duty of the chaplaincy committee to employ a chaplain on a trial basis for a period of six months, beginning in April of 1962, for the purpose of determining if the program would work. The committee was convinced at the end of the trial period that it was a success. The Reverend Joseph Varner was named as the first part time chaplain. A few years later, a secretary was employed to assist the chaplain one day a week with office work. Mrs. Bonnie Howes was hired as part-time secretary in 1971. Mrs. Howes dedicatedly worked for the Pastoral Care Office for thirty years until her retirement in 2001. During her interim, the secretarial position expanded to two hours a day, six days a week. Donna Sue Fraley is now the secretary, having joined the team in March 2006.

Bonnie Howes, long-time secretary in a photo from around the early seventies.