Ruth Dutro

One of the most painful aspects of life is death. Most people fear it

and keep it at arms length. For Ruth Dutro, death is a welcome

subject.

“People think I am crazy when I say that death is beautiful,” she

says.

At an age when most people are well into their retirement, Dutro

spends 40 to 50 hours per week volunteering as a chaplain for

Companion Hospice.

Though nurses, social workers, aides and volunteers at Companion

use medicine and psychology to make a patient’s last days as

physically comfortable as possible, there is still one need that must

be met -- the spiritual.

“Near the end of life and the closer they get to dying, they have

a real spiritual battle,” Dutro says, noting that even people with no

religion have spiritual needs.

Dutro, along with her husband, Ken, who is a staff chaplain at

Companion, bring tranquillity to this battle by performing bedside

services, singing hymns and providing overall reassurance that a

terminally-ill patient’s death will be peaceful.

“I hate the thought of someone dying alone,” she says.

Aside from administering spiritual council, Dutro also furnishes

gifts for the dying and their families. By providing materials and

utilizing the crafts of a group of volunteers, Dutro produces crosses

with color-symbolic meaning. For instance, if a patient has doubt

about getting to heaven, Dutro gives her a red cross that symbolizes

the blood of Christ, shed for the forgiveness of sins.

Perhaps the most unique part of Dutro’s service is the effort she

puts into consoling those that are left behind after someone’s death.

Her time spent with the dying allows her to create personalized

memorial services, something that many priests and pastors rarely do.

She writes poetry, tells anecdotes and even rewrites songs to

memorialize the deceased, such as her version of Frank Sinatra’s “My

Way,” “His Way.”

Through 14,000 hours and 8 years of being on call around the

clock, this ordained pastor has experienced more than her share of

grief.

“I get very attached to the patients and to the families and when

one of them dies it’s like I lost a good friend,” she said.

Throughout this experience she has become somewhat of an expert in

the bereavement process. She and her husband have even created a TV

series about it for the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Dutro’s service also includes teaching volunteers, consoling the

staff at Companion, helping families make funeral arrangements and

“clowning,” which is exactly what it sounds like.

“If it ever becomes a job to me I’ll quit, because I won’t be

doing those people a service,” she says, explaining that in order to

fulfill her role, helping and caring, not a paycheck, must be her

motivation.

The Dutro’s have lived in the area since the 1940s and said they

will continue doing their work for as long as God allows them.

-- Story by Tom Forquer;

Photo by Kent Treptow