Bucks County Herald – June 10, 2010

Norman Loux, McDonalds Maryland Senior Moment

Dear Friends,

Good morning. Dr. Norman Loux, the founder of the Penn Foundation, left this world a great deal better than he found it. The good doctor died at 90.

I thought about him as I experienced a senior moment in the drive-thru at a McDonald’s in Maryland. Dr. Loux would have laughed heartily if he were still here to hear my tale. He always gave me excellent advice, always gentle, always with a smile…and he loved to laugh. Here’s the story.

Mighty Betsy and I were traveling to Virginia to attend the high school graduation of her sister’s two grandchildren. It was early afternoon and we were hungry and thirsty. The Mighty One wanted a bottle of cold water so I stopped at my favorite restaurant to satisfy her…and I could grab some illegal French fries and inhale a cheeseburger.

McDonald’s was packed so I pulled into the drive-thru just as Mighty Betsy took a cell phone call from one of her best pals, Ellie Penniman. I discovered that I’m unable to multi task. I ordered the food at the call box, paid $6.51 at the pay window…all the while listening to Betsy and Ellie’s conversation.

I got caught eavesdropping as I drove right past the pick up window without getting the food. MB was gesturing me to stop and back up…while talking to Ellie. Those two never lost a beat. Embarrassed and thoroughly defeated, I drove completely around the McDonalds and stopped in the middle of the parking lot; got out of the car; and raced to the pick up window. Horns were blowing. The nice employee told me that she’d noticed my error and sent another worker to try and find me.

McDonald’s had suddenly become a chaotic mess. Employees frantically rushed around as inconvenienced and irate customers fumed. MB was not pleased.

What drama! All this mayhem and Dr. Loux was no longer alive to counsel me.

A week earlier, MB and I attended Dr. Loux’s memorial service at the Blooming Glen Mennonite Church. It was packed with family, friends, colleagues, and patients. We enjoy the simplicity of the Mennonites and especially their congregational singing. Led by a song leader and unaccompanied, the mourners became chorus singers.

Mennonites know how to sing. It was not everyone just singing the melody line, mind you, but rather, four-part harmony singing…and, on pitch. Sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses sang heartily. You should have heard the glorious sound of the chorus.

Elizabeth Kraybill, Dr. Loux’s daughter, local historian John Ruth, and Penn Foundation President John Goshow summed up the impact that one kind, thoughtful, and softly spoken man gave to his community.

Kraybill told us that her father was always grateful to the community for its support. “Father listened well and kept your stories safe,” she said.

“Norman Loux believed that only giving brings joy,” John Ruth began. “His life added value to his community. He engaged the soul of a community. When the Penn Foundation broke ground across the street from Grandview Hospital in 1955, 1,500 attended.

“Common people could tell their stories to Norman Loux,” Ruth continued. “He proved that there is a difference between leaders who demand and leaders who command. Faith loses its value unless it’s put into practice.”

John Goshow gave a brief history of Dr. Loux’s dream of providing mental health care for a community. “In 1954, Norman Loux was only 35 when he initially opened his practice in Souderton,” Goshow began.

In the early years, Dr. Loux forged a strong relationship with Dr. Michael Peters who was the leading physician at Grandview Hospital. Because Peters had considerable influence, he helped Loux establish mental health care in the hospital…mental health patients mingling with other patients, an unheard of concept at the time.

“Dr. Loux believed in treating mental health patients in the local community, not in some remote institution, where patients were close to their family,” Goshow continued. “Dr. Loux believed in treating the mind, body and spirit.”

Today, the Penn Foundation offers 43 programs and has a staff of 360 and serves Bucks, Montgomery, and Lehigh Counties. And it all began with one man who had a dream.

His obituary described his training and accomplishments prior to founding the Penn Foundation. Dr. Loux graduated from Eastern Mennonite High School and Goshen College. He received his medical degree from Hahnemann medical College and completed residencies in psychiatry at Butler Hospital and Yale University.

With those credentials, Dr. Loux could have been a star in a metropolitan area or academic setting. But he chose to return to his Mennonite roots.

About 40 years ago, I told him that Americans get an annual physical and see their dentist regularly. But no one bothers to have someone like a Dr. Loux give us a yearly mental health check up. So I began to call him yearly for advice.

“What have you been up to,” he’d begin? He worried about my level of daily stress, family responsibilities, newspapering, and community activities. “You need to slow down and smell the flowers,” he’d laugh. “Otherwise, you sound perfectly OK. Call me next year.”

I’ll miss Dr. Loux. He was a caring, good friend.

Sincerely,

Charles Meredith