Hospital volunteer pulls her last shift

After 33 years working as a hospital volunteer, Elma Coyle is calling it quits.

The 87-year-old retiree said knee problems have forced her to end her weekly shifts helping patients and staff at Deaconess Medical Center in Spokane.

“Everybody has been so nice, the patients and the people I worked with,” said Coyle during a retirement gathering on June 10 in the staff lounge of the day surgery center at Deaconess.

“It was just the feeling of being appreciated,” she said of the benefits of being a volunteer. “You knew you were appreciated.”

Coyle started with Deaconess Adult Volunteers in 1975 and was assigned to the day surgery unit in 1988. “They are the best (staff) in the hospital, but don’t put that down,” she said.

“She’s a really neat gal,” said Elaine George, one of the nurses who organized the party last week to wish Coyle well.

Judy Demand, the director of patient care, stopped by to greet Coyle and declared, “What a wonderful occasion.”

One of the staff members told Coyle, “Thanks for being so helpful.”

Coyle was known for wearing all kinds of jewelry, so the staff members wore necklaces in her honor. “She always looks so nice,” one of the staff members said.

Coyle said she’s seen a lot of changes in medical care in her 33 years of volunteering. When she started, the hospital required her to get a tuberculosis shot. That’s not required any longer. However, background checks are now required, but weren’t in the mid-1970s.

A retired clerical worker for the federal government, Coyle was urged to volunteer at the hospital by one of her South Hill neighbors, Mary Pringle, also a volunteer at the time. Coyle’s first job was taking patients to their rooms. Later, she worked with patients filling out menu choices. The job in day surgery has involved getting rooms ready for incoming patients. In addition to her regular duties, Coyle would also volunteer for fill-in shifts from time to time.

Born in Winona, Wash., Coyle grew up on a farm. She attended Washington State University – back then it was Washington State College – and joined the Army Air Corps in 1943.

She met her husband, Thomas Coyle, in 1944 in North Carolina. She moved to Spokane after World War II, and eventually Mr. Coyle was stationed at Fort Wright for a period of time. As a military wife, she followed her husband to far away locations such as the Philippines, Alaska and Florida. She raised two boys, Ron and Kenton.

The couple returned to Spokane in 1970.