IU Health LaPorte Hospital Chaplain Dale Wratchford will present a concert for the May 2 First Friday in the Chapel series at the hospital. This free concert begins at noon in the chapel on the hospital’s main floor.
Wratchford has been singing since he was old enough to sing along with his mom at home. He has performed in award-winning choirs, having the privilege to sing at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. His father bought him two of his guitars and this self-taught musician has performed music for church camps and church services everywhere he has served, using those same two guitars.
Community theater allowed many opportunities for Dale to shine on stage as well. Among other roles, Dale has been Jesus in “Godspell,” Charlie Brown, and Tom Sawyer in “Big River,” for which he received a Tonette award for outstanding lead vocal in a musical.
While at Princeton Seminary, Dale was invited to participate as a singer in the prestigious Princeton Touring Choir and attended Westminster Choir College. In this professional touring choir, Dale sang in venues throughout the East Coast as well as in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In 2003, Dale began using his music in his work as a chaplain and earned a Certificate as a Therapeutic Musician. This allows Dale the ability to use music as a means of promoting healing, relaxation and calm at the bedside.
Dale is married to Mindy, who is manager of the Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Clinic at Monroe and Sagamore. The two share six children. Dale now serves as director of the Center for Spiritual Care and Chaplaincy at the hospital.
First Friday in the Chapel concerts are made possible by the LaPorte Hospital Foundation Chapel Fund for the wellness of lives and holistic health — body, mind and spirit. For more information, call 219.326.2333.