Note: This message was originally sent on July 31, 2023
“Home” is an interesting concept to consider in the context of a university. This campus has been a “home away from home” for generations of students coming here to live, learn and serve in community while they pursue their degrees. It is the “home” where many faculty and staff spend the hours away from (or in some cases, alongside) their families. The Jesuit community makes their home here, and there are families and organizations who make ends meet by renting homes to students in the neighborhood surrounding campus. And even closer to home, there are houses on the streets within the boundaries of campus were once (in some cases, still) family residences, carrying stories of births, holidays, struggles, overcoming and triumphs within their walls. Sometimes those houses come down to make room for new campus buildings—and when they do, it’s never without reflection on the people whose made those houses homes.
One such memorable neighbor was a student at Gonzaga Prep, Joe Metcalfe, who was a freshman when he was diagnosed with Fredrick’s Ataxia, a rare congenital nerve disease that confined him to a wheelchair and cut short his formal education. But that didn’t stop him from being a memorable part of the Gonzaga experience for more than 20 years. Originally from Butte, Montana, Joe (pictured here) enjoyed time on the front porch of the family home in Spokane watching the activities of students and neighbors from his wheelchair. Class after class befriended Joe and “looked after him,” even having him serve as “king” of many campus activities. He audited classes, attended social engagements and was even given a crown to commemorate and honor his role in the Gonzaga community.
The king’s castle on the corner of Boone and Cincinnati came down recently as part of the University’s commitment to provide safe and appropriate housing for students. Since the house’s purchase by the University, it had also been home to various departments and services, who experienced the warmth and care of the house’s past residents in spirit. That care continues even now in the house’s absence in the lives of the students who have received the Joseph C. Metcalfe Memorial Endowed Scholarship since its establishment in 1984. Most recently, as the home was prepared for demolition a university colleague hosted Joe’s sister, Mary Anne and her family (several generations) so they could see the family home one last time.
“I bless the day my mother rented a house on Boone Ave.,” Mary Anne replied. “My family was given an opportunity to move forward out of poverty. More importantly though was the beautiful life my brother was given as he sat in his wheelchair. He no longer watched the world pass him by…but rather he LIVED life. Thank you, Gonzaga! Thank you, Jesuits!”
As work continues on the new residences where future Zags will live life and have a “home” to remember for years to come, our team is sure that Joe’s spirit will be with everyone involved, looking over this important work from his throne at the Lord’s side—a chair he isn’t confined to anymore, but one from which he can look down at us all with pride.