"Woman Seeks Sainthood for Doctor" - Eduard Rischar by Jeanne Williams.Temple Daily Telegram:

Woman Seeks Sainthood for Doctor

by Jeanne Williams

Temple Daily Telegram - September 26, 2011

CAMERON - Marion Travis of Cameron has been on a religious pilgrimage into the past.

The site of her solitary sojourn was an era of history where Dr. Eduard Rischar lived,

practiced medicine, worshiped fervently in the Roman Catholic Church, and established a

legacy throughout Cameron she believes is worthy of sainthood.

Today at journey’s end, her faithful trek into dusty, yellowed archives, interviews

with friends and neighbors, correspondence with the Vatican and local diocese, Travis

is disappointed at the outcome, but she believes God has a plan for Rischar to achieve

sainthood he deserves.

She believes that when Rischar is declared a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, good

things would begin to happen for Cameron, such as economic prosperity not seen since

cotton was king in the early 20th century. But her plea has been a voice in the

wilderness.

The Diocese of Austin issued the following statement regarding Travis’ request:

“The church does not have to declare a person a saint in order for them to be in

heaven. In order for a diocesan bishop to promote a cause for canonization, there must

be a strong groundswell of recognition of the person’s sanctity; it must be an

extraordinary and broad fame. So far, that groundswell of fame does not exist for Dr.

Eduard Rischar. But we are saving the information collected by Ms. Travis, in case it

may be needed in the future. Historically, some causes for canonization were not opened

until centuries after a person’s death.”

Rischar died Aug. 8, 1948, at the hospital he founded, leaving behind a legacy of

kindness, integrity, benevolence and spiritual devotion, Travis said.

Though Rischar’s obituary tells the life story of a dedicated physician and community

philanthropist, research revealed “he was truly a holy man,” Travis said.

Born May 30, 1872, in Bavaria, Germany, Rischar moved with his family to Illinois when

he was eight.

He graduated from Iowa’s Keokuk Medical College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1900 and

served his internship at Policlinic Post Graduate School of Medicine and Surgery in

Chicago and was an assistant in clinics for the next six years.

He served as instructor of operative surgery there until 1914 when he came to Cameron

to help Dr. W.R. Newton Sr. to establish the Cameron Hospital.

Rischar assumed a prominent part in the work of the Catholic Church in Cameron and was

known for his benevolent work that included building St. Monica’s Catholic Church after

the original building was destroyed by fire. He also donated a pipe organ still used in

the church, Travis said.

The Cameron hospital, a three-story, red brick facility with capacity for about 36

patients had been built in 1910 by Newton and Rischar. After Newton’s death in 1940,

Rischar acquired sole ownership and operated the medical center with his sister, Rose

Rischar, a nurse.

In 1946, Rischar donated the Cameron Hospital to the Sisters of Charity of the

Incarnate Word, saying he was motivated by the desire to perpetuate the work of the

hospital for the benefit of the people of Cameron and surrounding area.

The hospital for reasons unclear today was named St. Edward Hospital in honor of St.

Edward the confessor, whose virtues included simplicity, gentleness, and lowliness, and

angelic purity. Thus, St. Edward Hospital-Rischar Memorial flourished under the Sisters

of Charity, who were welcomed by Cameron residents and strong ties of friendship were

developed.

A convent was built in 1965 and in 1969 work began on a $1.5 million hospital founded

by a $500,000 Hill-Burton Grant, a $250,000 pledge from the Sisters of Charity, and

another quarter million from a local fund drive.

In 1972, a professional building and clinic were added.

Utilization of small rural hospitals declined in the 1980s and many closed. Blamed for

the decline in rural health care centers were changes in Medicare laws and eligibility

policies, advances in medicine that allowed patients to be released earlier, improved

transportation and competition from larger hospitals.

By the mid-1980s the hospital was struggling, with the Sisters of Charity subsidizing

$400,000 in losses. Patient census declined at the 50-bed hospital to about 15 per day,

indicating Cameron was choosing other health care options.

The Sisters of Charity decided their mission for providing health care had ended and

left Cameron in 1989. Today, the hospital operates under private ownership under the

name Central Texas Hospital.

With Rischar’s name dropped from the hospital moniker, many people today have never

heard of the physician, although he was chairman of the committee that spearheaded

construction of St. Monica’s Catholic Church building in the 1920s, and today a trust

established by Rischar in the 20th century provides a monthly $1,000 offering to the

church, Travis said.

One day while visiting Central Texas Hospital, Travis was mesmerized when she saw

Rischar’s portrait hanging cockeyed on the wall of the hospital conference room.

“I knew instantly it was Dr. Rischar,” Travis said. “I must have known him as a child

and it must have stuck back in my mind.”

In the past year, Travis converted to Catholicism and believes she was inspired by the

Holy Spirit to pursue sainthood for Rischar. The portrait she encountered only

strengthened her to believe she was being led to seek sainthood for the physician.

“If you know Catholicism, you can tell how deeply they are converted to the teaching of

the faith by the way they talk and by what they will and will not do. There is a kind

of evenness in a holy person. They are not impetuous, they don’t get excited, and they

are always kind and loving toward everyone,” Travis said.

Rischar, Travis said, “was truly a follower of the two greatest of the Ten Commandments

- ‘I will love God with all my heart, soul, strength and mind’ - and I think that is

how he lived his life. The second one is ‘I will love my neighbor as I love myself.’”

Among the many testimonials Travis recorded revealed that when Rischar was growing up,

he struggled between two callings: whether he would become a priest or a doctor. Those

who know him believed Rischar’s bedside demeanor was more like a priest than a doctor,

though he was a brilliant physician and surgeon.

Meanwhile, Travis, who is in her 80s, hopes that someday, someone else will carry the

torch for sainthood for a special man. Though she was disappointed that Rischar has not

been canonized, this devout believer looks upward from the church to Heaven, where she

accepts the decision as God’s will.

“It may be because God has better things in mind,” she said.

jwilliams@tdtnews.com

All articles from the Temple Daily Telegram are published with the permission of the
Temple Daily Telegram.
All credit for this article goes to
Jeanne Williams and the Temple Daily Telegram

Dr. Eduard Rischar, a respected Cameron

physician, founded St. Edward Hospital. Cameron

resident Marion Travis believes Rischar is worthy

of sainthood.

Courtesy of Marion Travis and Peggy Lanford Photography

Dr. Eduard Rischar helped build

Cameron Hospital which was later

named St. Edward Hospital. He

donated the hospital to the Sisters

of Charity of the Incarnate Word.

Today the hospital operates under

private ownership under the name of

Central Texas Hospital. Cameron

resident Marion Travis believes

Rischar is worthy of sainthood.

Courtesy of Marion Travis and Peggy Lanford

Photography