Meet Chaplain Kimi Glaspie

Hello, my name is Kimi Glaspie, and I have been a Central Oregon Public Safety Chaplain for more than 15 years. It is my privilege to serve the amazing First Responders of Jefferson County. I absolutely love what I do.

I was born in Eugene, Oregon, but have spent the majority of my life in Central Oregon, where I met my amazing husband, Darrell, and we raised our son Zachary and daughter Jessica, and now have 5 beautiful grandchildren. 

I was raised in a strong Christian home, and my dad was a pastor. He always said I would be a pastor, and in a way, I definitely am.

My journey towards chaplaincy started in October of 2002, when my daughter was involved in an accidental shooting in the abdomen. Her aorta was pierced in two different places, and her intestines in many multiple places. First miracle….we were 30 minutes from the nearest town and 1 hour from St. Charles. With an aortic injury, you have about 10 minutes, MAYBE 15, before you bleed out. It was more than 15 minutes before my husband met the ambulance halfway to LaPine. She stopped breathing twice in our car, and at least twice in the ambulance that was taking her to meet Air Life. She stopped breathing 3 times in the helicopter and was completely flat line when she arrived at St. Charles. She was rushed into surgery where she was opened up, and one doctor held his fingers on the holes in her aorta, and a vein specialist who had only been at St Charles for less than a month harvested a vein from her leg…that was the second miracle. When the doctor came out and met with us, he said it was moment-to-moment and that she would be transferred to OHSU for repair of her intestines. He did not have much hope for her surviving the trip on AirLife, and that we should say our goodbyes to her in the ICU. The car trip to Portland was excruciating as we had no way of knowing if she was still alive. By the grace of God, she was!! ….third miracle. Fourth miracle…she never went septic following the intestinal repair from the contents of her bowels being spilled into her abdomen. Fifth miracle…no brain damage from massive blood loss. She was given 24 units that first day. After almost a month at OHSUI and Doernbecher, we took her home with an open wound from top to bottom in her abdomen and two ostomy bags. Twenty-three and a half years later, she is a beautiful wife and the mom of our 3 amazing grandchildren.

We had a chaplain at St Charles, and I remember people who were in the waiting room for us (81 people to be exact)  saying what a help he was. When we got to OHSU, there were no chaplains, and I remember thinking how sad it was. I began to feel the tug on my heart towards chaplaincy because of that.  God was definitely calling me into that ministry, although I did not begin to pursue it until 6 years later, after the next major trauma in our family.

My second event was the death of my 18-year-old nephew in 2008, who fell over dead for no apparent reason 2 weeks before his graduation. He was my daughter’s closest friend. We found out after the results of an autopsy that he had Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. His heart literally exploded. A police officer came to my brother’s door, and again, no chaplain.

It was then that I began the process of chaplaincy in earnest. I trained with Hospice with the hopes of being a hospital chaplain. I was the Hospice chaplain for a short period of time until I was asked by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department to be a Police chaplain. ! I also serve Jefferson County Fire/EMS, Warm Springs Fire and Safety, and the Madras Police Department.

Way outside my area of expertise, but almost 17 years later…Here I am until God says I am done.