Charity Golf Tournament Is Labor--and Legacy--of Love

People who give the most are often those who have suffered the most. When you take a look at John Ferris’ personal plight in recent years, you have to marvel all the more at his Energy Tour, and his one-man stride up the fairway on behalf of children.

Ferris, 38, who lives in Orange, is the soft-speaking manager of operations and maintenance at Chapman University. He’s one of those background people who keep the place running; it isn’t likely that many students on campus have any idea who he is.

But in his spare time these past few months, Ferris has been organizing his own charity golf tournament. He calls it the Energy Tour, and the first one kicks off Monday at the Newport Beach Country Club.

“Energy” because most of his contacts--thus the participating golfers--are from the utilities profession or deal with that field. “Tour” because Ferris’ plan is for Monday’s outing to be the first of many. Los Angeles is next, and Ferris is hoping for San Francisco and San Diego.

“It’s something that my wife and I had planned together,” Ferris told me.

The recipient of Ferris’ tournament proceeds--every dollar--is Children’s Hospital of Orange County. If his golf outings make it to those other major cities, the recipients will be the children’s hospitals there.

Ferris has a special reason for wanting to give back to the medical field. Ferris’ older daughter, Meghan, was born with a rare and life-threatening liver complication; only one out of four even survive. Before she was a toddler, she had been hospitalized 14 times. It was the doctors at CHOC who saved her, Ferris said. Here’s just one incident he related to me:

“At one point, she went into shock, and it appeared that she was going to die within a matter of hours. The doctors said there was one drug that might save her, but it was experimental, and it was only available on the East Coast. They had the medicine flown here and actually brought it to the hospital by a helicopter, which landed on the roof, rushing to make it on time.”

Meghan survived that night, her condition has stabilized, and she’s now an energetic kindergartener at the Holy Family Cathedral’s school in Orange.

The kicker to that helicopter story: The entire emergency episode cost about $12,000 beyond what Ferris’ insurance covered. Ferris has never forgotten that CHOC eased his burden by quietly absorbing the cost.

Ferris talks softly about his wife and his daughter: “They had a very, very special relationship.”

His wife, Sue, you see, was raising two children and undergoing chemotherapy and radiation for breast cancer. She too appreciated what CHOC had done for the Ferris family and encouraged her husband with his golf plans.

Last month, Sue Ferris died of breast cancer at age 38. Ferris told me that he hits moments when he gets down about losing her. But plans for the tournament have kept him upbeat.

Ferris said: “When you go through something like this, it galvanizes you to continue on. I think she would be pleased.”

All 144 spots in the tournament have already sold out. Ferris, though he wasn’t a golfer until recently, actually has some experience putting these things together. What happened was this:

Ferris is president of a national organization of people in the utilities field. But before he was president, he was involved in its local chapter. The local chairman organized a golf tournament for charity; Ferris assisted.

“I was just amazed at how skillfully he made that thing all come together,” Ferris said.

The next year, Ferris was chairman, and he was responsible for the golf tournament. It went off so well, Ferris said, that he and some of the other board members got into a disagreement over the proceeds. Some wanted to increase the amount that would go toward the group’s general fund, and thus decrease the amount to charity.

“I wished them luck on their next golf tournament but told them that I was just going to go on my own,” Ferris said. So he created Par Five Productions to put on the Energy Tour.

This way Ferris can see to it that CHOC gets all proceeds--he expects to deliver a $20,000 check after Monday’s tournament. Ferris is still active in the local chapter of the utilities group, but it has dropped its golf fund-raiser.

Ferris will be assisted on Monday by the Little Mermaid Guild, one of the many volunteer support groups at CHOC. I asked Jinny Bowman, Mermaid spokeswoman, what her group thinks of Ferris’ endeavor. Her response: “John is terrific. We love him dearly.”

Gems and Pearls: The Breast Care Center at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange has an outreach program through its foundation that it calls Pearls of Wisdom. It sends speakers throughout Orange County to urge women to take steps to help ensure early detection of breast cancer.

About 18 months ago, the Pearls of Wisdom people put together a video for its speakers to take with them on engagements. One of the three women speaking on that tape is Sue Ferris.

“She very much wanted to do this for other women,” said Barbara Anabo, director of the program and a breast cancer survivor. “Sue will live on and on forever through this tape.”

If you or your group would like to see the tape, or see a presentation of one of the Pearls of Wisdom programs, call St. Joseph Hospital at (714) 771-8000, Ext. 7220.

Wrap-Up: I watched that moving and thought-provoking tape this week. Sue Ferris calmly explains that she first detected a lump in her breast when she was pregnant with their second daughter, Mary, who is now 2. A doctor told her it was normal and nothing to worry about. She didn’t feel the lump again until Mary was 4 months old. Sue Ferris was diagnosed with breast cancer on a Thursday and underwent a mastectomy the next Tuesday. She learned then that her cancer was advanced. She knew she was dying when the videotape was made, and so did everyone there.

“There wasn’t a dry eye around after Sue spoke,” said Anabo.

John Ferris was present at the taping but hasn’t viewed the completed tape yet. It’s just too soon, he said. But I’m sure he will, as will his daughters. They’ll be so proud of their mother’s courage.

Sue Ferris’ closing line on that tape, delivered as she fought back her emotions, is one of the pearls of wisdom about detecting breast cancer well worth repeating: “The only thing I can say is, I can’t stress enough the importance for women to take control.”

Jerry Hicks’ column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling The Times Orange County Edition at (714) 966-7823 or by fax at (714) 966-7711 or by e-mail at jerry.hicks@latimes.com.