By Brenna Wiegand
The Nealon family returned to Silverton in August and don’t plan on moving again anytime soon. It would practically take an act of Congress for Shelly Nealon to consent to another 2,000-mile move. For in a dozen years, they’ve done it three times, Nebraska to Silverton, Silverton to Nebraska, Nebraska to Silverton.
Both Shelly and Jim Nealon are Nebraska born and raised. After four years of college for both and four years of medical school and a five-year residency for Jim on the plains, the Nealons had been searching for jobs closer to their family, but to no avail.
The Midwest market was just too saturated and they decided to explore the possibility of moving West, perhaps to Colorado where they’d still be within a day’s drive to the relatives.
The young family kept looking farther and farther West. After several exhausting trips to the Northwest, baby in tow, Shelly wasn’t keen on repeating such a journey until Patrick Vance, then with Silverton Hospital, began wooing them. He suggested they check out the city of Silverton’s new website. “That website got me to Silverton,” Shelly said. “I flew out the minute I saw it.”
Vance whisked them from Silver Falls State Park to the tulip fields and then some. “We learned about the Pet Parade and Homer Davenport and I thought, ‘This is the most quaint, beautiful small town,’” Shelly said. “We came in May for the Pet Parade and that was it.”
The other big decision was made en route, as they crossed into Oregon in their Tahoe with Jack, not quite a year old.
“I’m a big college football fan so when we came here in 2001 I knew that we were going to pick one team or the other,” Jim Nealon said. “I said we’re going to be Duck fans. Dennis Erickson was coach for the Beavers and he’d worked for Miami. I’ve always been a Nebraska fan and hold no fond feelings.”
Those matters settled, Dr. James P. Nealon, MD, FACS, began his private practice career upon their arrival in July 2001.
The job was good, the people warm and friendly and the growing family became woven into the fabric of Silverton. Their investment in the community was thriving. Between the practice and delving into community activities, it wasn’t long before they were encountering families in the grocery stores, restaurants, coffee shops and the like, many letting them know how well things had turned out after a surgery and how thankful they were to have received such good care.
Ten years in and with three kids, they were ready to make a few changes to the business – and feeling mighty guilty about being so far from their family.
“We both have tons of relatives over there,” Shelly said. “It’s the Menzies all over again.”
In 2011, Jim took a post in Hastings, Neb., population 25,000, a couple of hours from relatives, but…
“We just did not fit,” Shelly said. “It was not working, we were so homesick we couldn’t adjust.”
They lasted two years before deciding to return to Silverton, where Jim shares office space with Dr. Clinton C. Sanford, PC, at 333 Fairview Street.
“Leaving again was pretty brutal on our extended family,” Shelly said. “The icing on the cake would be if our family would move to this area.”
Thankfully, their bittersweet decision was confirmed well before their August arrival in Silverton.
“Most of our things were still in boxes and I couldn’t open my door fast enough,” Shelly said.
This summer, Shelly and her three children settled in Silverton, waiting for Jim to finish up his work in Nebraska before moving back to Silverton in November.
As a general surgeon, Jim’s most common procedures include repairing hernias, removing gallbladders, performing colonoscopies, and treating colon and breast cancer and performing emergency surgeries. In Silverton, a general surgeon can take on a variety of cases and that keeps things interesting. That’s just one of the things he likes about Silverton.
“What we like to do, we can do here – fishing, going to the coast, Duck games…” he said. “We like to ski, too.”
Shelly is gregarious and full of fun with a ready laugh as is Grant, 9, who cracks himself up learning new jokes. He helps his mom with her computer issues. With his fishing pole in hand, he can frequently be found at Abiqua Heights stocked pond.
At 11, Chloe is an animal lover and competitive gymnast who travels to Athletic Edge in Salem four days a week. She trains with three Silverton teammates.
“It’s very colorful and very cheerful here,” Chloe said. “They repaint all their buildings, hang flower baskets and have a bunch of murals. It’s very neat and pretty.”
Jack, 13, attends Mark Twain School and enjoys hanging out with the friends he’s known since preschool. Avid Duck fans, the Nealons have loved resuming their 10-year tradition of tailgating with the Orr and Rosborough families.
For several years, they rotated with friends hosting a Wednesday night dinner, something Jim especially enjoys. “It is nice just getting people together,” he said.
“Perhaps the biggest reason we came back is the ability to provide such personal care. The fact that I know so many people and have taken care of so many gives me some confidence that I can survive as an independent practitioner in this day when nobody’s doing that,” Jim said.
While they don’t have relatives in Silverton, they feel blessed to have a “ton of family.”
“And that is the God’s honest truth,” Shelly said. “We have been through thick and thin with our friends. People here wave at one another; work together and there’s a real sense of community. After leaving here and going back to Nebraska my eyes were so wide open and, well, we have received a second chance. It’s been a very humbling experience and I will never take it for granted again.”
For what they have realized, Silverton is their home. After moving into a rental house this summer and then buying a house this fall, the moving boxes are nearly – and finallly – empty. A symbolic box-burning party in the works.
“We’re done; this is it; you’re not getting rid of us again,” Shelly said, laughing.
