SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM
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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020
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A photo board of the church's congregation sits on a pew in St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Dallas, Ore., on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. Unable to meet in person due to
the pandemic, Father Heard looks to the photo board while speaking in the pulpit. BRIAN HAYES / STATESMAN JOURNAL
Pen pals
Continued from Page 1A
Jim said young people in Ireland
were experiencing American chewing
gum and comic books for the first time,
which may have heightened the experi-
ence of having an American pen pal.
He was the only one of his friends to
sign up for one, and they were envious
when he received his first letter from
Fred.
Meeting a new friend of around the
same age from a different country was
exciting —almost as exciting as waiting
for the postman.
The letters have been lost over the
years, but Fred and Jim recall writing to
each other about where they lived and
the activities they were involved with.
They exchanged photographs, too.
"I have a memory of being asked if I
had red or ginger hair, which seemed to
be associated with being Irish," Jim
said.
One detail Fred remembered was
that his Irish pen pal had black hair.
Neither recalls how often they wrote
to each other or for how long. Their con-
tact didn't last a lifetime like some pen
pals, but they never forgot each other
while finding happiness and success in
their personal and professional lives.
Both achieve success in careers
Fred and Adair have been married 54
years and have three children and eight
grandchildren. Jim and Mary have been
married 48 years and have six children
and 13 grandchildren, with a 14th due in
January.
Both couples raised identical twins —
Fred and Adair girls, Jim and Mary boys.
Jim is retired from civil service, hav-
ing worked in a variety of departments
covering administrative, personnel, leg-
islation and policy matters. He was pre-
sented an Officer of the Order of the
British Empire (OBE) award for public
service before retiring in 2002. Prince
Charles pinned the medal on his chest at
Buckingham Palace.
The OBE is an award granted by the
government of the United Kingdom to
individuals who have performed excel-
lent work in arts, sciences, public ser-
vices and charitable efforts.
Fred has made an impact in three dif-
ferent professions. He was a teacher
and then a state lawmaker before be-
coming an Episcopal priest.
He taught multiple subjects at Klam-
ath Union High School, his alma mater,
and then as an associate professor at
Oregon Institute of Technology.
In 1968, he ran for the Oregon Legisla-
ture and served four years as a state rep-
resentative and 10 years as a state sena-
tor. He was the Senate majority leader
for three sessions and Senate president
for one, resigning to accept the cabinet
appointment of director of commerce
for former Gov. Victor Atiyeh.
Fred earned a Master of Divinity de-
gree in 2003 from the Church Divinity
School of the Pacific in Berkley, Califor-
nia, the only Episcopal seminary on the
West Coast. He did his his clinical pas-
toral education at the Oregon State Hos-
pital forensics unit.
He served as an associate rector and
rector at two California churches before
moving to Salem in 2014 to be the assist-
ing priest at St. Paul's. He became the
priest at St. Thomas in 2016.
Parishioners enjoy updates
St. Thomas is a small church with
about 40 members. Most are 65 and old-
er and at risk of getting COVID-19, which
is one reason the church has been
Father Fred Heard prays as his wife Adair records the service in St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Dallas, Ore. on Thursday,
Dec. 10, 2020. Father Heard's services are viewed in Ireland by his childhood pen pal. BRIAN HAYES / STATESMAN JOURNAL
closed since March.
Fred has been determined to keep the
congregation spiritually together and
safe while they're physically apart. He
hosts Wednesday afternoon coffee
hours on Zoom, giving everyone a
chance to share what they've been up to.
It was during one of those coffee hours
that he first shared the news about re-
connecting with his childhood pen pal.
"He's been so excited, he has been
keeping us all updated every week," Lori
Murphy Cole said.
She joined the church just before the
pandemic struck and when it became
clear social media would be a lifeline for
the congregation, she started a Face-
book page and has been keeping it up-
to-date ever since.
The church never had a reason to live
stream or record services before, but
Fred's wife took on the role of video pro-
ducer. She uses a tablet propped on a
ladder to record each service, then
uploads them to YouTube.
The benefit of distance worshiping is
they can better connect with people no
matter where they live. Fred has people
on the Oregon Coast, in northern Wash-
ington and Virginia who regularly tune
in to his services.
And now, Ireland, too.
He doesn't expect they'll return to the
church building anytime soon. He had
hoped to resume limited in-house ser-
vices in January, on a lottery system be-
cause the sanctuary is small for social
distancing, but that's doubtful now be-
cause cases have been rising.
For now, they're just thankful for
technology.
Garden chat spurs reconnection
Technology was a topic of discussion
across the pond, on a sunny afternoon
in June, in the back garden of Jim and
Mary's home.
Their daughter and grandson were
visiting, maintaining a safe distance, of
course, and they talked about the bene-
fit of social media during a pandemic
and how it enabled families to maintain
contact.
Jim contrasted the situation to when
he was a boy and communication was
done primarily through the written
word. He shared how he once had a pen
pal in Oregon.
"While our exchange of letters was
relatively short, the name Fred Heard
from Klamath Falls was easily brought
to mind when I was telling my grandson
about times past," Jim said. "They were
surprised that I remembered him so
readily."
His daughter Googled Fred's name.
She was delighted to find an entry for
him in Wikipedia and impressed by the
details of a prestigious career. She en-
couraged her dad to write Fred a letter,
and he eventually did, starting it like
this:
"Dear Rev. Fred, I hope this quite un-
expected letter from Ireland will provide
some little amusement for you in these
challenging times."
Plans to meet are in the works
Fred was thrilled when he opened
that envelope and read those words that
fall morning at the church. The letter
had been sitting in a pile on a desk for a
couple of weeks because they aren't on-
site to check the mail regularly.
Jim wondered if the rumors about
postal problems in the United States
were true.
A return letter from Fred finally ar-
rived, and they've been corresponding
ever since.
Fred and Jim hope to meet in person
someday, perhaps as soon as next sum-
mer when it's safe to travel.
Fred and Adair had to postpone a trip
to Europe to celebrate his 80th birthday
this year because of COVID-19. When
they reschedule, hopefully in 2021, Jim
and Mary have said they'd love for them
to visit.
"This whole story sounds like a Hall-
mark movie," Fred said. "I've been tell-
ing parishioners, if the pandemic and all
this gets heavy on you, watch a Hall-
mark movie."
Capi Lynn is the Statesman Journal’s
news columnist. Her column taps into
the heart of this community — its peo-
ple, history and issues. Contact Capi at
clynn@StatesmanJournal.com or 503-
399-6710, or follow her on Twitter
@CapiLynn and Facebook @CapiL-
ynnSJ.
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