The phone call came unexpectedly three months ago to Joe Schoeneman, a town of Oregon man whose kidneys were failing due to a heredity disorder. “Well, I’m just going to get right to it,” the caller said. “I had myself checked. I’m a match.”
Schoeneman couldn’t believe it. He’d spent more than a year waiting for a kidney on a national transplant list, to no avail. Now, out of the blue, someone he barely knew had just offered him one of his.
The caller was Paul Sever, 52, a retired deputy U.S. marshal who lives in the village of Oregon, where he attends Holy Mother of Consolation Catholic Church and sings bass in its choir. Schoeneman, also a member of the choir, sings baritone.