Lifelong Two Rivers resident, Lee Pilger, is using his passion for coloring to raise the spirits of those in hospice care.
Pilger is a hospice volunteer for the Sharon S. Richardson Community Hospice based in Sheboygan Falls, but they also have an office location in Manitowoc. The 59-year old Pilger tells Seehafer News he started using adult coloring books as a hobby about 6-or-7 years ago.
While his passion for coloring began in 2014 or 2015, Pilger says he “really got going last year at the start of the pandemic” to bring joy to those in nursing homes and assisted living.
“We had to think of something to do to keep people in our community happy,” he told Seehafer News. “You know you couldn’t see your mom if she was in a nursing home. And I never thought the pictures we did would do as much as they did. They think we’ve done over 3,000 pictures since the pandemic started and almost 2,000 hours of time and effort.”
But Pilger called it a “labor of love“.
This week and next, Lee explains he’ll be very busy coloring pictures for Memorial Day, “Honoring the veterans and some of them up in their 90’s in the age bracket.”
Lee also told us that about a week and a half ago he colored a dalmatian dog for the Two Rivers Fire Department, “As a token of appreciation for what these guys have done throughout the pandemic.”
Pilger’s pictures have made their way all over the world. In fact, he received a coloring book from Scotland, entitled the “5 Love Language” thanks to a friend he met at a Salvation Army summer camp.
Many of Lee Pilger’s pictures go to who he terms his “hospice ladies”. Those are “My volunteer coordinators Tracy Arenz and Melissa..the words I get back from them are just amazing on the pictures I do. It’s just something that’s very special to me.”
It can take up to 8-hours a day to complete some of his pictures, using multi-colored pencils.
You can contact Pilger at 323-4230 if you want him to do a picture for someone you care about.