Astoria Parish Has Remedy for Native Pediatrician

By Linda Busetti

It took one full FedEx truck to deliver 13 boxes of children’s clothes, pediatric medical supplies, wheelchairs, walkers and a computer that recently were sent by the people of St. Joseph parish, Astoria, and others to Dr. Sister Eileen Catterson, D.W., in West Virginia.

Father John Harrington, pastor, had read in The Tablet (Jan. 20) that Dr. Catterson, who is the only pediatrician in rural Wyoming County, had grown up in St. Joseph parish.

“It was so good to see the Communion of Saints in action,” Sister Catterson said about her benefactors. The 72-year-old physician, who is a member of the Daughters of Wisdom religious order, has practiced at the clinic since the late 1970s. She serves children from homes where the median annual income is around $24,000, but no one is ever turned away because they cannot pay.

“St. Joseph’s was always a great parish,” Dr. Catterson said. Her parents lived in the parish for over 50 years. She and her brother and sister all attended the parish school and she went on to Bishop McDonnell H.S. “The parish has always had a place in our hearts,” she said.

In a letter to The Tablet, after the story ran, Dr. Catterson wrote, “‘And the flood gates opened…’ is the phrase that aptly describes the response to The Tablet article on the Pineville Clinic…Here at the Children’s Clinic, I’ve received quite a few responses, especially from my home parish in Astoria, St. Joseph’s.

“I have been really touched by old friends and neighbors who wrote and who also sent generous donations to help us with our ministry in West Virginia. I was so pleased to see that the values of faith, compassion and generosity that I learned as a child in that parish are still so evident in the parishioners today. In fact, the parish administration and the pastor, Father Harrington, are very interested in helping us in the future. They have asked us to send them a wish list with things that we need here at the clinic.”

Parish Effort

Father Harrington and a committee of parishioners went to work to fill Dr. Catterson’s “wish list” of needs for her Pineville Clinic.

The committee at St. Joseph included Margaret Cavanaugh, Dorothy Groat, Mary Schneider, Maureen Neary, Jackie Barkoutsis, Jackie Castello and Ann Steiner.

Father Harrington also tapped some of his sources from his days doing missionary work in La Vega, Dominican Republic. A few years ago, when he was stationed at St. Rita’s parish, L.I.C., he had collected donations of Tylenol, which he had delivered to a mission hospital there.

Among the other donors who helped to fill the FedEx truck were those who work with children, the sick, and ex-prisoners here in the diocese and around the world.

Kathy Tebbett, program services coordinator of Catholic Medical Mission Society, arranged for several cartons of pediatric medical supplies to be sent from the Seattle warehouse of a sister agency Providence International Health Missions to be included in the shipment to Dr. Catterson. Tebbett had known Father Harrington since he was pastoral associate at her home parish of Immaculate Conception, Astoria. She had also helped with shipping the Tylenol donations.

Sister Margaret Oettinger, O.P., chaplain of the Hospital of Special Surgery in Manhattan, donated crutches and splints. Wheel chairs, walkers, crutches, and bathroom equipment for the handicapped were supplied by Sister Teresa Fitzgerald, C.S.J., founder of Hour Children, which serves formerly incarcerated women and their children. Hour Children is located in St. Rita’s, where Father Harrington was pastor.

Pediatric equipment and infant clothing were donated by Sister Eva Mazzetta, O.P., of St. Joseph School, and Luke Nawrocki, principal of St. Joseph School, contributed a computer and calculator.

Parishioners of St. Joseph also donated much of the infants’ and young children’s clothing that filled the 13 boxes.

Cash Donations

By early June, Father Harrington had collected about $3,300 in cash, in addition to the equipment, clothes and medical supplies, and was looking for a way to get it all down to Dr. Catterson. He considered driving a truck the approximately 570 miles through New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia to the southern tip of West Virginia. But in the end he decided that the best way would be to pack everything up and ship it by FedEx. The cost of $1,600 was paid out from the donations and an additional $350 from the parish St. Vincent de Paul fund. That left a little over $2,000, which was sent in a check to Dr. Catterson.

Benjamin Malec, who is also a lector at St. Joseph, was among the parish Eagle Scout candidates and Boy Scouts who helped to pack everything for shipping.

“It was a wonderful experience for all of us,” Father Harrington said of the parish project.

Safe Delivery

The FedEx delivery arrived in West Virginia in mid-July. Dr. Catterson had been told to expect it. “Everything arrived safe and sound,” Dr. Catterson said. There was so much to be unloaded that the clinic couldn’t hold it all and some equipment had to be stored elsewhere. “We shared it all with the St. Vincent de Paul and Hospice,” she said.

The delivery was “marvelous,” she said, a little bit like Christmas morning. A thank you letter is in the mail.

Dr. Catterson greatly appreciates the generosity of the people of St. Joseph’s parish, but she has one more wish. She is ready to retire. As reported several months ago, she is still looking for a younger pediatrician to come work with her and take over the practice. Any young idealistic physician ready for a challenge can contact her at the Pineville Clinic, Route 10, P.O. Box 430, Pineville, W.VA. 24874.

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