Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 16, 1992 TAG: 9201170365
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LYNN A. COYLE SOUTH CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
HOSPITAL'S `GREETER' IS A PATIENT GIANT
If you've been through the front entrance of Roanoke Memorial Hospital in the past few years, chances are you've encountered Larry Wray.His hospital identification badge reads: Larry Wray, Greeter.
Under his photograph is an American flag.
At 6 feet 6 inches tall, he's hard to miss.
He may have helped you load all your paraphernalia into the car when you brought your new baby home from the hospital. Or retrieved a wheelchair and helped you into the hospital. Maybe he informed you, ever so diplomatically, that you couldn't park your car there, but explained where you could park it.
That's his job.
Wray, 47, has worked for the hospital since 1975 when he was one of the original security guards. In 1980 he became the greeter for the Cancer Center of Southwest Virginia and in 1987 transferred to the same position at the hospital.
Wray said he wanted the position at the cancer center because at the age of 20 he lost his 16-year-old brother to brain cancer.
"With the anxiety I went through I felt like I could better help the people over there," he said. "In 6 1/2 years, I was able to talk with thousands of patients from all over the world."
Wray said he was heavily influenced by his grandmother, who lived by the Golden Rule, and told him, "If you do something to hurt somebody, it will come back to you 10 times worse. If you do something to help somebody, it will come back to you 10 times better."
Wray made a huge contribution to the Cancer Center Sunshine Fund in 1983, the year it was started. With the help of family, friends, co-workers and even strangers, he conducted a successful campaign to collect enough bottle caps to buy a car in a promotion sponsored by K92 Radio. Wray sold the 1983 Ford Thunderbird he won and donated the proceeds to the fund, which helps pay for special needs of the center's patients.
For instance, when a patient from far Southwest Virginia realized he didn't have enough gas or money to get home, the fund paid for gas to get him there.
Wray knows when certain patients, who drive but need help getting around, are scheduled for treatment and has a wheelchair waiting when they arrive, said his supervisor, Greg Sharp.
"For the position he's in he does an excellent job. He's good at recognizing people's needs," Sharp said. "He's just virtually unsupervised. He doesn't need any supervision. He just does his thing. He also seems to be pretty weatherproof. Whether it's snowing, raining or blazing hot, he's out there."
Wray lives only a couple blocks from the hospital and walks to work every day. His wife, Susan, is a nurse. His 11-year-old daughter, Sarah, is a magnet student at James Madison Middle School.
The Rev. Branan Thompson Jr. said he has appreciated Wray's help over the years. He said that more than once, if no space was available in the parking area reserved for clergy, Wray would say, "Here, I'll take your keys and park your car in a minute as soon as somebody pulls out."
Thompson said he's seen Wray hold umbrellas on rainy days, hold babies, and smooth a lot of ruffled feathers over the years. For instance, when the clergy parking area was lost because of the current construction, Wray warned Thompson at least a month in advance and told him where he could park.
Thompson isn't the only one who appreciates Wray. "I just get a lot of compliments on Mr. Wray. We get a lot of letters commending him. He's always the same - very upbeat, has a lot of patience," Sharp said.
Wray said that when he was at the Cancer Center, people asked him how he could stay so cheerful. "I was able to do that by not looking so much at the cancer as at the opportunity to help somebody else in their walk through life."
It is "rewarding to see so many people who were able to come back from the cancer and live a full and rewarding life," Wray said.