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BELLEVILLE, Ill. — Fr. Gene Neff remembers that day in July 1974 well. He was a young associate pastor here and got a letter from the bishop.

The bishop wrote that he was appointing Fr. Neff to lead the new Ministry to Sick and Aged in the Diocese of Belleville, which covers 28 counties in Southern Illinois. "I said, huh," Fr. Neff recalls. "How am I going to do that?"

Now, 50 years later, Fr. Neff is semiretired and still the head of the Ministry to Sick and Aged. He's 79, uses a walker and just received a pacemaker.

"I've got more broken pieces inside of me that I'm trying to patch up," he half-jokes.

But he is just as passionate, if not more so, as he was at the start of the ministry about the importance of ministering to the sick and aging.

For the past 33 years, he's worked with an assistant director, Connie Barre, a retired elementary schoolteacher he knew through one of the parishes he has served. Together, they oversee a group of 20 to 30 volunteers who visit hospitals and rehabilitation centers in Belleville and surrounding towns. Their work includes loaning medical equipment for use in private homes, and giving presentations throughout the diocese on aging, bereavement, death and dying, and other related topics.

Fr. Neff visits nine long-term care facilities monthly to celebrate Mass and administer the Anointing of the Sick and provide the Sacrament of Reconciliation. If he's unable to provide sacraments, he finds someone who can. He also maintains and balances the budget and sees to other administrative tasks.

Barre creates a bulletin each month for hospital patients and writes articles for the ministry's newsletter. She oversees the volunteer program, recruiting new volunteers through parish bulletins and personal connections, making sure to show appreciation with birthday cards and treats.

Altogether, the ministry provided the Eucharist more than 1,600 times in 2023.

The ministry also awards "pay it forward" honorariums, named the Sr. Leona Luechtefeld Service Awards, to individual youth, classrooms or schools for their work with the sick, elderly and other groups. The awards honor Sr. Luechtefeld, ASC, a fierce advocate and volunteer for the elderly.

There's also time for fun: the ministry hosts an annual summer picnic with food, entertainment and fellowship for residents of the facilities it serves.

"We can't forget them," he says. "There has to be a ministry of presence. I think if I got to the point where I could not say Mass, could not give out Communion, could not do the sacraments, but I would still go and shoot the breeze with them. That, to me, is incredibly important."

Barre says people are naturally drawn to Fr. Neff. "He's a good listener. He's nonjudgmental, he's very laid back and relaxed and people feel safe, and they feel compliant, and they feel they can open up to him," she says. "We've talked about how the ministry is a ministry of presence, and sometimes that's all he has to do. He connects with people, and they never forget him."

Dignity, worth and value
Fr. Neff grew up in Belleville and has three younger sisters. His father was a maintenance man for their church and diocese. His mother ran the cafeteria at their parish school. She also took Communion to nursing home residents. "Church was important," Fr. Neff says.

So was caring for the aged and sick in his own family. His parents cared for his great aunt, who never married, and he often visited her in a nursing home. At one point, he moved back home to care for his own ailing father, who had cancer.

He believes the baby boomer generation grew up in a time when family bonds were much stronger than they are now. That's where the church can and should step in, he says. While at work in his ministry, he often runs into people he knew growing up, and they appreciate the connection.

"They deserve to have the church that's cared for them, that gave their life meaning, to be present to them," Fr. Neff says. "Just to say, by your presence, 'You're OK. In the eyes of God, and in the eyes of your church, you have dignity and worth and value.'"

Adapting to needs
Fr. Neff has served as pastor of several parishes over the years while doing his work with the Ministry to Sick and Aged. When he started out, he donned a yellow helmet and rode a yellow moped from place to place, his anointing oils and Communion wafers packed in saddlebags. Now, he drives a sensible Honda Accord, and keeps the items in a wheeled suitcase.

The ministry's work has adapted according to the needs and the resources available. Fr. Neff used to carry a pager so he could be available for emergencies at what is now BJC Healthcare Memorial Hospital in Belleville; the ministry eventually provided him with a cell phone. These days, facilities are encouraged to first try to contact a clergyperson of the patient's choice in an emergency.

Early on, the ministry bought a 12-passenger van with a ramp to take residents of care facilities for a day of shopping or a meal out. Fr. Neff often drove and had as much fun as the residents. "Once they got in there, we were talking like crazy," he says.

A group called the "roadrunners" used their own vehicles to transport the homebound to appointments and outings. Eventually that part of the ministry ended, and the ministry sold the van when public transportation options and other services became available.

HIPAA, with its rules about the release of information, also has changed how the ministry operates. Hospitals and long-term care facilities cannot provide the ministry lists of who in their care might benefit from a visit or sacrament.

"If the family doesn't reach out and let the parish know, it's difficult," Barre says, of keeping track of parishioners in hospitals or other institutional care. "I think priests would make an effort if they knew — I know they would. I think that has hampered the pastoral outreach, and the pastors are very busy."

The COVID-19 pandemic also drastically reduced the Ministry of Sick and Aged's volunteer base from about 60 people to 20-30. Fr. Neff adapted as best he could along with hospitals and facilitates, making and taking video calls.

Unique experiences
The ministry is funded by donations and is an agency of Catholic Charities of Southern Illinois. Fr. Neff and Barre believe it is unique among diocesan ministries.

The singularity of his position registered for Fr. Neff several years ago, when he attended a White House conference on aging with Cardinal Wilton Gregory, who at the time was president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

"You'd thought I was this rock star when I walked in the room," says Fr. Neff. "And it was like, 'Wow, you've got one of those?'"

One of Fr. Neff's most memorable experiences was a talk he and Sr. Mary Simpson, another advocate for the elderly, gave to prisoners at Menard Correctional Center in Southern Illinois. The talk, about death and dying and the Anointing of the Sick, went well, says Fr. Neff, and the men in prison were receptive.

"But then, by the time we finished the talks, which were in a different building, we had to go back across the compound, with the guns and lights up on the top and I said, 'Let's get the heck out of here!'" he recalls.

Fr. Neff earned a certificate in gerontology in 1994 from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and received his master's degree in gerontology in 1998 from Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri. He credits having good examples along the way, including Sr. Luechtefeld, Sr. Simpson, Barre and Dr. Richard Johnson, who is recognized nationally for his work in spiritual gerontology. Johnson emphasizes continuing to learn and grow and keep life in balance after retirement.

Now that he's semiretired, Fr. Neff is trying to find his own balance. He's reconnecting with his sisters and giving aging advice to others from his own experiences. Mentally, he says he feels like he's in his 40s or 50s, but physically, he finds it hard to work sometimes with his limitations.

He's revised instructions for his funeral several times and made some wishes known at the ministry's recent picnic.

As he enjoyed the acoustic music of the band the Prairie Travelers, he laughingly told the band members he wants them to set up a tent at the cemetery after his burial, play music, and "have a blast."

"I hope it's not for a long time," he said.