The Artist
Dr. Robert L. Phifer, a native of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, had degrees from the University of Alabama and Harvard Medical School. After serving as a medical officer in the U.S. Army, he pursued a fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, specializing in orthopedic surgery. He claimed that orthopedic surgeons are the carpenters in medicine, that he liked carpentry, and that orthopedists are the happiest doctors. In 1957, he came to Eugene to establish a practice in the Medical Center Building. He joined the staff at Sacred Heart Hospital where he continued to assist other surgeons even after he closed his office in 1991. Dr. Phifer died in 2010.
The Dove
In retirement Bob used his cast saw to carve wooden objects. In 1999, he sculpted a dove for the pediment above the altar at St. Mary’s, where both he and his wife, Nan, were members.
The dove is a rich symbol of Christianity. It is in all four Gospels’ accounts of Jesus’ baptism. They record that when Jesus emerged from the Jordan, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him “like a dove”. The dove became a powerful visual shorthand for the Holy Spirit’s presence and activity.
The sculpture of the descending dove is surrounded by two circles, representing eternity. The shafts radiating from the dove end in fleur-de-lis, whose three petals represent the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
