Irish Eyes Smiled at St. Patty’s Day wedding at Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital

BJSPH hospital chaplain Jenny Hanksmeyer, PhD (back) proudly introduces Mr. and Mrs. Robert “Scottie” Scott to the cardiology unit immediately following their wedding ceremony ending a 22-year courtship. The St. Patty’s Day bride, Mary Donahue, carried a bouquet of yellow rose gifted to her by hospital employees.

You just never know. But it is possible Robert “Scottie” Scott, 63, may be remembered in his Irish family history as having one of the longest courtships in the family tree. Scott, a retired union steel worker, met his girlfriend, Mary Donahue, in 1988. They have been together ever since.

Scott, who has emphysema, had been feeling poorly for about six months. Three weeks ago he was admitted to Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital with pneumonia. Two weeks later, he was transferred to the cardiology medicine unit. It was there, sitting in his hospital bed, that Scott finally decided it was time to make a full fledged commitment to spend the rest of his life with his sweetheart of 22 years, Mary Donahue, a retired nurse.

While Scott was proposing to his love from his hospital bed, the 58-year-old blushing Donahue said, “I think I about fainted. And then I said, ‘Yes.’”

And so it was that Scott and Donahue exchanged wedding vows on Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 7 p.m. with a little help from hospital employees. The small and intimate ceremony was held on the cardiology medicine unit where hospital chaplain Jenny Hanksmeyer, PhD, performed the ceremony in front of guests including their five adult children and members of the cardiology team.

While Scott did not plan to have the wedding occur on St. Patrick’s Day, he said, “I guess it was just the luck of the Irish.”

The couple plan on honeymooning in a tropical setting after Scott is released from a local skilled nursing/rehabilitation facility.