Wall of Fame Honorees

The Pioneer Pallottine Missionary Sisters
The Pallottine Missionary Sisters always listened to God’s direction, and in 1924, they answered the call to open a hospital in Huntington. Sisters Kostka Hansen and Ludwiga Adler were the first to arrive in Huntington in the summer of 1924. They were teachers from the school in Richwood and spent their summer break cleaning and repairing the rundown building.

Eight sisters came to open the St. Mary’s. Sisters Carola Jehle, Amalia Bauer, Laurentia Kuhn, Gerharda Mueller, Pia Polke, Valeria Frengel, Damiana Quack, and Anastasia Raker all left to begin their work together to open Huntington’s newest hospital. After working to refurbish the larger of two buildings on the five-acre plot for the hospital, the second building, a gymnasium, was fit to become the Convent.

On November 6, 1924, St. Mary’s was open with room to receive 35 patients. The next day, the first patient was admitted to the hospital. She stayed for 10 days under the care of the sisters. She was not able to pay her bill, thus beginning the long-standing tradition of caring for the poor in our community.

Bishop John J. Swint
Until his death in 1962, St. Mary's had no greater friend and supporter than Bishop Swint of Wheeling. In June 1923, Bishop Swint invited the Pallottine Missionary Sisters to open a hospital in Huntington. When the hospital opened November 6, 1924, Bishop Swint blessed the building and placed it under the protection of Mary, the Mother of God. From that moment, the institution was known as St. Mary's Hospital. On the 50th anniversary of his ordination, Pope Pius XII conferred on Bishop Swint the title of Archbishop. The title is traditionally conferred on Bishops whose Dioceses have been declared an Archdiocese. It is highly unusual for a Bishop of a Diocese to receive the honor.

Steven J. Soltis
Soltis was St. Mary's first lay administrator, a post he held from 1964 until his retirement in 1989. It was the first time in West Virginia that a layman had been appointed chief executive officer of a Catholic hospital and one of the very few instances of such departure from tradition in the United States. Under Soltis' leadership, St. Mary's grew from a modest-sized community hospital into a regional healthcare giant. Soltis passed away in December 2012.

Dr. Francis A. Scott
In 1933, Dr. Scott opened a Crippled Children's Clinic at St. Mary's Hospital, where he cared for hundreds of children at no charge. Not confining his efforts to the clinic, he packed his medical kit in his car and set off on frequent visits to nearby rural areas to care for poor children in need. In 1941, Dr. Scott served as Chief of Staff at St. Mary's. After serving in World War II, he returned to Huntington to reestablish his orthopedic practice. He served as Chief of Orthopedics at St. Mary's from 1955-1956 and again in 1961. He retired from practice in 1967 and died in 1974.

Hans W. Dransfeld, M.D.
Upon becoming St. Mary's Chief of Radiology in 1964, one of Dr. Dransfeld's first initiatives was the formation of the St. Mary's School of Radiologic Technology. Dr. Dransfeld's vision was for St. Mary's to be the first in the area to have the latest innovations in radiology, so he brought to Huntington CT (computed tomography), MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), radiation therapy, ultrasound, and mammography. He served as St. Mary's Chief of Radiology until his retirement in 1996. Dr. Dransfeld passed away in 2006.

Dr. Thomas Conaty
St. Mary's owes Dr. Conaty a debt that can never be repaid - a debt of gratitude for the key role he played in establishing the hospital's reputation for quality, family-centered maternity care. Dr. Conaty rose to become Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at St. Mary's. At one point, when other doctors had left the hospital to practice elsewhere, he held the hospital's obstetrics and gynecology department together as a one-man operation, working around the clock until new doctors could be recruited. Dr. Conaty also gave his time every Wednesday for 40 years at the hospital's indigent clinic for OB/GYN patients. Dr. Conaty died in 1999.

Herman M. Brown
For more than 25 years, Brown was a major figure in Huntington's growth and development and was one of the best friends St. Mary's was ever fortunate enough to have. He held a number of increasingly important posts at the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway before being named Superintendent of the C&O shops in Huntington. In 1920, he left C&O to work at the new International Nickel Co. plant. From 1944 until his retirement in 1952, Brown was the plant's general manager. When St. Mary's named its first Lay Advisory Board, Brown became its chairman post he held until he died in 1955.

Dr. Harry E. Beard
In June 1927, Dr. Beard became the first intern at St. Mary's Hospital. As the hospital's only intern, he had to work both day and night. He insisted on being called for every emergency and didn't like it when the Sisters didn't call. After serving in World War II, he returned to St. Mary's, where he was Chief of Staff in 1952. In 1947, he became Medical Director of the St. Mary's School of Nursing-a position he served in until his death in 1963.  

Dr. W. Carl Kappes
A remarkably talented plastic surgeon, Dr. Kappes literally changed the lives of countless children and their families in the Tri-State area. For many years, he was the only surgeon in the community who performed corrective surgery on children with cleft palates and harelips. The families of many of his young surgery patients couldn't afford to pay, but he performed the corrective surgery anyway. On the medical charts for his free patients, he would carefully write the letters "AMDG" - short for "Ad maiorem Dei gloriam," which is Latin for "To the Greater Glory of God." He died in December 1979.

Dr. Thomas J. Holbrook
Dr. Holbrook pioneered neuroscience in Huntington, establishing the city's first neurosurgical practice and serving as Chief of Neurology and Neurosurgery at St. Mary's Hospital from 1961 to 1970. He established the hospital's original unit in electroencephalography in 1951 and was President of the Medical Staff in 1964. Dr. Holbrook died in January 2004.

J.D. Harrah, MD
Dr. Harrah founded the cardiac surgery program at St. Mary's Hospital and was a key figure in the program for more than 20 years. Today's highly successful heart program at St. Mary's is, in a very real sense, his legacy to the hospital and to the community. On September 27, 1979, Dr. Harrah performed the first open-heart surgery in the Tri- State area. By 1999, a total of 7,000 heart surgeries had been performed at St. Mary's with Dr. Harrah involved in 4,000 of them - a truly remarkable record.

Dr. Joseph B. Touma, MD
Dr. Touma performed more than 7,000 surgeries as an ear and hearing specialist at St. Mary's Hospital. Dr. Touma patented 15 different medical instruments and pieces of equipment used in ear surgeries. All were considered improvements in existing technology now widely used by surgeons across the United States. As Chairman of the Credentials Committee at St. Mary's for more than 25 years, Dr. Touma helped ensure the hospital had quality physicians in every specialty. He also served as President of the Medical Staff from 1988 through 1990. In addition to his work as a physician, Dr. Touma is credited with helping lead a revitalization of downtown Huntington.

Sister M. Monica Crnkovich, S.A.C.
Sister Monica spent more than 60 years in the health care ministry, tending to both the physical and spiritual needs of patients. She served as Chief Administrator for St. Mary's Hospital from 1959 until 1966. She also started the pastoral care program at St. Mary's and helped establish the first cancer program in the Tri-State at St. Mary's in 1965. Sister Monica died in July 2007 at the age of 88.

Rowland H. Burns, MD
Dr. Burns helped establish the first intensive care units at St. Mary's Hospital. He also developed advanced training and education for nurses and physicians at St. Mary's that helped maintain a high quality of care for patients. He joined with three other physicians in 1969 to form a group physician practice that would later become the largest private physician group in the state of West Virginia - a group that would eventually be known as Huntington Internal Medicine Group (HIMG). Dr. Burns died in April 1978.

Richard E. Tyson, ESQ.
Tyson was the "house attorney" for St. Mary's for 35 years. He was instrumental in bringing about the successful expansion of St. Mary's during the 1960s, which required the rerouting of First Avenue. Tyson also served on the Advisory Board of the St. Mary's School of Nursing.

Mary Catherine Casey Reger, RN
Reger was the first student to graduate with a Diploma in Nursing from St. Mary's School of Nursing in 1927. She was a surgical nurse for five years at St. Mary's before leaving to become a full-time mom. Twenty years later, after her children were grown, Reger returned to St. Mary's to become an emergency room nurse. She passed away in June 1992.

Sister M. Madeleine Lopez, S.A.C.
Sister Madeleine served as the comptroller at St. Mary's for 43 years. Her financial acumen steered St. Mary's Hospital through the turbulent 1940s. After her retirement in 1983, she served as the Director of Volunteer Services for eight years. For 66 years, from 1938 until 2004, Sister Madeleine served as the Provincial Treasurer for the Pallottine Missionary Sisters. She died in March 2011 at the age of 100.

Charles E. Turner, MD
Dr. Turner has practiced medicine at St. Mary's for more than 40 years. With certifications in both gastroenterology and internal medicine, Dr. Turner served as St. Mary's Chief of Medicine from 1973 to 1982, President of the Medical Staff from 1993 to 1995 and as a member of the Board of Trustees from 1993 to 1999. Today, he continues to serve as a courtesy staff member and as a personal physician to the Pallottine Sisters.

Hossein Sakhai, MD, FAANS, FACS
Dr. Sakhai practiced neurosurgery at St. Mary's from 1965 until 2000. He was a member of Huntington's first neurosurgical practice. Dr. Sakhai served as St. Mary's Chief of Surgery from 1983 - 1987 and its Chief of Neurosurgery from 1975 to 1976 and again from 1982 until 1992. At St. Mary's, he was the first neurosurgeon to introduce and perform many new surgeries and techniques. In 1989, he invented a technique to better control bleeding during scalp incisions that is still used by physicians today.

Sister Celeste Lynch
Sister Celeste graduated from St. Mary's School of Nursing in 1950. She was the director of the school from 1959 to 1976. She served as the President of Pallottine Health Services, the parent corporation of St. Mary's and St. Joseph's Hospital in Buckhannon, WV, from 1995 until her retirement in 2012 at the age of 88. Sister Celeste passed away in December 2012.

William Sol Sheils, MD
For 32 years, the leadership of Dr. William Sol Sheils was strongly felt throughout St. Mary’s Hospital. But Sheils’ influence extended far beyond the hospital’s walls. Sheils helped shape the face of health care throughout the tri-state area, building a legacy of community service that continues to grow today, even after his passing. Although his community service achievements were extensive, Sheils was most well-known for his compassion for his patients, always taking the time to listen to their concerns and needs. After his retirement in 1997, many of his former patients spoke to him and his family members about how much they missed his caring manner. Sheils was also known for being a man of strong faith, a trait he shared with his wife of 56 years, Barbara, and passed on to their five children William, Douglas, Geoffrey, Susan, and David. Sheils passed away on October 28, 2012.

Kirk Jamieson David, MD
Dr. Kirk Jamieson David grew up in Idaho – thousands of miles from Huntington, W.Va. But he ended up making his home in the Tri-State because he found it to be a place where he could truly make a difference. At St. Mary’s Hospital, he found kindred spirits in the Pallottine Sisters, who believed, as he did, that everyone in need should receive care. Charity toward all was the guiding principle of Dr. David’s office practice, his work with patients and staff at St. Mary’s, and also his personal and family life. He would take any patient, regardless of ability to pay, following a philosophy he shared with the Pallottine Sisters: All are welcome, they only need to be in need. Dr. David retired in 1991 after 39 years of service. In 2007, Dr. David’s family continued his work by making the inaugural contribution to the St. Mary’s Pallottine Fund, which provides financial assistance for patients and employees in need. The gift officially opened the fund to private, tax-deductible contributions. Dr. David passed away on July 31, 2008.

Barbara Bales Stevens, RN, Ed.D.
From a very young age, Dr. Barbara Jo Bales Stevens knew she wanted to be a nurse. She did fulfill that dream and became a well-respected and well-loved caregiver. However, she also became an excellent teacher of nurses, and her 39 years of nursing instruction at St. Mary’s School of Nursing allowed her to leave a major impact on not only St. Mary’s but also health care across the region. In 2001, Stevens retired after 41 years at St. Mary’s, but her connection with the medical center did not end there. In 2003, Stevens accepted the invitation to serve on the board of the newly created St. Mary’s Medical Center Foundation. Stevens served as the vice chair of the Foundation’s Center For Education capital campaign, helping to raise money for a new School of Nursing, her first love. She also accepted an invitation from her mentor and idol, Sister Celeste Lynch, to join the board of Pallottine Health Services, Inc. — the first laywoman to serve. Stevens would later say she was overwhelmed by the request and considered it a true privilege and honor. Stevens passed away on January 16, 2016.  

Dr. Homer Cummings
Throughout his life, Dr. Melville Homer Cummings, Jr. was a servant to others - to his faith, to his family, to his patients, and the community. Upon his return from his military service, Cummings set down roots with his family in Huntington in 1948. He completed his surgical residency at St. Mary’s Hospital and, in 1950, he formed a partnership with Dr. William Irons. Cummings served as a member of the St. Mary’s surgery department for more than 50 years. One of his many areas of expertise was the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. For Cummings, his service to his faith extended beyond the pews of the First United Methodist Church. He prayed with his patients before each surgery. He was a Good Samaritan which was often demonstrated in his willingness to help unwed mothers, patients, or someone in need with housing, employment, education, or finances. Homer and Marjorie Cummings were the proud parents of eight children: Mel, John, Fenton, Norma, Lillian, Martha, Jim, and Loan, as well as 30 grandchildren. Cummings died on July 5, 2001, after caring for patients earlier in the day. As one of the sisters attending his funeral observed, “He died with his boots on.”

Dr. David Daniels
Dr. Daniels joined Huntington Internal Medicine Group (HIMG) in 1972. In 1978, Daniels developed the first oncology unit at St. Mary’s where cancer patients and their families found a true home. But Dr. Daniels did not stop with just the unit. Convinced there was a better way to care for dying patients and help them with their pain, he and his St. Mary’s team introduced the ability to provide morphine orally—something many in the medical community felt could not be done.In 1981, Laura Darby, a nursing student working on her senior project, approached Dr. Daniels to help to start a hospice program in Huntington. It was an offer Dr. Daniels could not refuse and in 1982, Hospice of Huntington began. Dr. Daniels worked with Hospice for more than 26 years and became known for wearing his “No Pain” red button, as well as driving a car with a matching bumper sticker, Dr. Daniels retired as Hospice’s medical director in 2008.

Jack Jenkins
John E. “Jack” Jenkins was known to be a quiet man, who only spoke when necessary. But his actions both in and out of the courtroom spoke volumes as, for more than five decades, he built a legacy of both legal excellence and community service that continues to grow even after his death.During the 1990s, Jenkins served as the attorney on the St. Mary’s Ethics Committee, offering tremendous help to the Sisters in developing policies for the medical center to stay current with changing legislation and regulations. Jenkins was extremely committed to his role with St. Mary’s, rarely missing a meeting in nearly a decade of service. He also occasionally provided legal representation to the medical center. A gentleman in every way, Jenkins practiced law not as a job, but as a calling, treating each client as if he or she were the only case he had. He was a member, Sunday School teacher, and Elder of the First Presbyterian Church in Huntington. Jenkins was the father of three sons: John, James, and Evan. He passed away on July 4, 2008.

Dr. William Echols
Summarizing the life of William J. Echols, MD, is a fairly difficult task, as he was truly larger than life, always having a story to tell. His own story is one of great success as a cardiologist and as a pioneer in the Huntington medical community, making several important contributions that are still shaping Tri-State health care today. Dr. Echols provided many firsts for cardiology in Huntington. He started the cardiac rehabilitation programs at the Huntington YMCA, St. Mary’s Hospital, and Cabell Huntington Hospital. Dr. Echols also developed the echocardiology, vascular duplex studies, and nuclear cardiology programs at HIMG and St. Mary’s. He also cared for the Pallottine Missionary Sisters at their infirmary at St. Mary’s and was very active with the Marshall University School of Medicine. Dr. Echols and Nancy had three daughters: Elizabeth, Virginia, and Sandra, who was inspired by her father to become a fourth-generation physician. Echols passed away on June 27, 2016.

Dr. Elmer Vega
Dr. Elmer Teofilo Vega came from humble beginnings in South America. But a drive he possessed from his youth led him to become not only a successful physician but also an important figure in the history of medicine in Huntington. Dr. Vega helped establish the first anesthesia group in Huntington and would later form Huntington Anesthesia Group, Inc. He performed the region’s first epidural anesthetic and helped pioneer St. Mary’s open-heart surgery program. Known for his calming influence in the operating room, Dr. Vega was well-respected for not only his skill, but also his work ethic, high morals, and compassion for his patients. He is still remembered for always taking time for people. Dr. Vega led by serving, believing that if he jumped in to help, others would follow. Dr. Vega’s dedication was to his faith first, his family second, and then his profession. He never took credit for his success, always attributing it to God. Dr. Vega and Mary, his wife of 59 years, had three children — Mary Elizabeth, Michael, and Magaly — and 14 grandchildren. Vega went to be with his Lord Jesus Christ on June 16, 2016.

Sister Diane Bushee, S.A.C.
With more than 62 years of service as a Pallottine Missionary Sister and almost 60 years at St. Mary’s Medical Center, Sister Diane Bushee, S.A.C., has inspired and mentored thousands of St. Mary’s employees, students, and community members. Over the years at St. Mary’s, she has served in several leadership roles helping to guide St. Mary’s Medical Center into the institution it is today. But maybe none of her roles has been more important than her current one, serving as the moral compass for all who enter the medical center. Sr. Diane served as a nurse administrator for many years before helping to found the Mission Integration Department at St. Mary. Her presence was always of the values of St. Mary’s — Compassion, Hospitality, Reverence, Interdependence, Stewardship, and Trust. Sister Diane continued in her role as Vice President of Mission Integration until May 2021. She was still a valued voice in all things related to St. Mary’s after her retirement. Sr. Diane passed away on August 23, 2024.

The Pallottine Missionary Sisters (Missionary Sisters of the Catholic Apostolate)
The remarkable story of St. Mary’s would not be possible if it were not for the gifts and commitment of the Pallottine Missionary Sisters. Officially the Missionary Sisters of the Catholic Apostolate, they have been affectionately known as the Pallottines or just the sisters here at St. Mary’s. In the spirit of their foundation St. Vincent Pallotti, they came to Richwood, West Virginia in 1912, opening Holy Family School in September 1912 and then Sacred Heart Hospital in 1913. In 1921, they opened, St. Joseph’s Hospital in Buckhannon, and 1924, the sisters were invited to open a hospital in Huntington. Their spirit of dedication led them to set out in faith even when faced with insurmountable odds. They came to Huntington knowing that God could and would use them for God’s infinite glory. Today, the healing ministry of St. Mary’s is possible because of the 121 Pallottine Missionary Sisters who have worked, served, and continue to serve at St. Mary’s. We are truly indebted to them for the wonderful legacy they have left for us.

Michael Sellards
Huntington native Michael G. Sellards’ tenure as President & CEO of St. Mary’s Medical Center from 2000 to 2019 stands as a period of remarkable growth and transformation for the hospital. Reflecting on his time leading the institution, Sellards, who was born at St. Mary’s, expressed profound gratitude for being included among the individuals who have shaped St. Mary’s into what it is today. His humility and deep appreciation for the community’s recognition were evident when he remarked that having his name added to the list of honored individuals was both “humbling and appreciated.” During his nearly two decades at the helm, Sellards oversaw a period of tremendous expansion and modernization at St. Mary’s. From cutting ribbons on new facilities to enhancing access to leading-edge health care technology, his leadership was defined by growth that aimed to improve the health of the community. Among the significant accomplishments of his time at St. Mary’s were the establishment of the new Regional Heart Institute, the expansion of the Ironton ER campus, a revamped Emergency Department, and Intensive Care Units as well as the state-of-the-art Center for Education. His vision also extended beyond Huntington, as the hospital expanded its service footprint into neighboring counties and states, ensuring that more individuals had access to quality health care.