Fire, Police Department Chaplain likes Frenzied Pace

By Buffy Maguire

Reverend George Twigg-Porter's overflowing calendar is jam-packed for an 81-year-old man.

With ceaseless energy, Twigg-Porter belongs to many clubs and committees. He has served as the Adjunct Chaplain for Atascadero State Hospital and served on the Catholic Committee for the Aging, Medic Alert, Senior Action Network, National Catholic Organization for the Deaf and as a spiritual advisor for the "handicapables."

"When I was about 5 or 6 years old, there were three things I wanted to do. I wanted to be a fireman, a policeman and a minister. Here I am, now at 81, a chaplain for the fire and police department and a priest. I've done it all."

He has also written nine books and published more than 700 articles on topics including the benefits of bees, the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius, the practicalities of planning a cost efficient funeral ("It costs a lot to die") and "How to Pray the Rosary."

With a view of Saint Ignatius Church, he dines at his home at Saint Anne's Home on California Street. Residents usually gather around to bid him farewell as he heads out on his various missions.

"He's always going somewhere," said Virginia, one of Twigg-Porter's neighbors.

"I like change and I adapt to change easily," Twigg-Porter says. "Wherever I'm needed, I'll go."

Twigg-Porter's room at St. Anne's Home subscribes to the theory of "there's a place for everything," including his Internet-ready computer and scores of files brimming with a manuscript in progress.

His suitcase is prominently placed on his neatly made bed; he is on his way to preach his 46th Easter mass in the Central Valley.

Twigg-Porter resembles an old movie star in the Jimmy Stewart mold, with distinguished salt and pepper hair. He laughs freely and cracks jokes effortlessly.

After 41 years, he is the oldest active chaplain in the United States. He credits his greatest gift in the line of duty as a sense of humor.

"Humor can diffuse a lot of tense situations."

And Twigg-Porter should know. As a chaplain he gets called to a wide array of tragedies, including heart attacks, domestic violence, attempted suicides, car accidents and mass murders.

On a moment's notice he flies to Shanghai to oversee the duties of an ailing priest on an American cruise and the next moment Twigg-Porter is answering a call at 101 California St., where a gunman has killed eight and wounded six people.

"I just happen to be there when strange things happen. There's something about me. For instance, on at least eight airplane trips there's been a death, heart attacks, a berserk person and extreme turbulence. I have a knack for this stuff. When was the last time this happened to you?"

His own life story, however, reads less like a thriller and more a fairy tale.

Born in Ealing, England to William Twigg and Renee Shearling (later Porter), Twigg-Porter grew up hobnobbing with the social elites, including silent screen star Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. and his actress wife, Mary Pickford.

"We were wealthy, but in the great crash 1929 we lost everything. My mother wrote to Douglas Fairbanks and he told us to come to America and he would help get my mother a job in the movies."

True to his word, Fairbanks helped Renee Twigg-Porter secure a stock contract and she appeared in numerous movies for more than 12 years.

Young Twigg-Porter also found himself in films - look for him in Bette Davis' "Of Human Bondage."

"I'm on the screen for 70 seconds, but it took five days to film," he said.

His calling to be a Jesuit priest started in 1933 when he began attending Catholic Church; he converted and in 1940, at the age of 20 years old, joined the Society of Jesus. He was ordained in 1953.

With almost 50 years in the priesthood, Twigg-Porter has evolved into part advocate, part teacher, part comedian and all galvanizer who champions the causes of those who are typically "neglected" in society. He invigorates and motivates people to take action.

"About the only thing I haven't done is bungee jumping," he said.