PRINCETON — His colleagues remember him as a “dedicated,” “humble,” and “charismatic” doctor who put his patients at ease in flip flops, hats and Hawaiian shirts, and an OBGYN with the best operating table decision-making skills in the business.

His friends remember him as a “one-of-a-kind”, “outgoing”, “wild and crazy” man whose passions included blues music, sports, animals, and children.

And now, thanks to a painting unveiled last week at a memorial service in his honor, those cherished memories of the beloved Dr. Joseph “Joe” Nieto will live on in tangible form in the place where the Princeton doctor spent many of his days. Local artist J.R. Shuck donated the portrait of his longtime friend to the Princeton Community Hospital Women's Center, where Nieto treated thousands of women and babies before dying unexpectedly in April, of an aortic aneurism, at the age of 53.

“Why I decided to do the painting is hard to put into words,” said Shuck, a long time friend of Nieto's, after recently completing the lifelike painting that portrays the doctor wearing his trademark mischievous grin. “Joe was a dearly wonderful, generous, eccentric, wild and crazy, fun person. It was not unusual for him to wear a Russian hat and flip flops to a funeral or other formal event. He left a really big, empty spot in my soul when he died, and perhaps, just perhaps, doing the painting and placing it in the women's center was a meager attempt on my part to fill that void.”

That void is shared by many people who had the opportunity to meet the fun-loving Nieto during his more than 20 years of service to the Princeton community. A native of McDowell County, the doctor attended medical school at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, in Lewisburg, graduating in the mid-1980s. In 1988, he came to Princeton, where he not only found success in the medical world but also quickly made friends with his uncommonly sociable spirit.

“He was a unique character, and everybody was his friend,” said John “Jabo” Williams, a local physical therapist and close friend of Nieto's. “If he met you, you were automatically his friend. If he wanted to go to a ballgame, he would ask strangers, 'hey, do you want to go to a game; I've got tickets.' He was a very friendly person, and anybody that met him liked him.”

That admiration for the skilled OBGYN who enjoyed meeting friends at Danny's Bar and taking Amtrak trips to professional sporting events was felt in the community and on the job, alike. According to his fellow Princeton doctor and medical school classmate Marshall Long, not many doctors in the region are better at what they do than Nieto was.

“I don't think anybody was faster than he was at getting a distressed baby delivered by C-Section,” he said. “He had some of the best hands and he made some of the best decisions on the operating table to take care of his patients.”

While Nieto could also sometimes upset those patients with his matter-of-fact manner, Long added, it was only because he cared enough about their well-being to be as outspoken as he needed to be in the name of their health.

“He was upfront with people and told them exactly what they should do, and he always let them know when he didn't think they were doing what they were supposed to do,” he said. “When he had a patient who was pregnant, he was thinking from beginning to end about what he would have to do and what she would have to do throughout the pregnancy. If he said something they didn't want to hear, it was only because he cared so much about making sure the baby and the woman had the best possible chance.”

PCH Department of OBGYN Chairperson and fellow doctor Lori Tucker agrees, adding that Nieto's honesty was just one part of what made him one of the women's center's most loved characters.

“He was matter-of-fact, to the point where some people didn't like it, but he always told you the truth,” she said. “It's hard to know where to start in describing Dr. Nieto. He was humble and charismatic; he was just awesome. He was a part of the family here, and not having him here is very difficult for all of us.”

On June 19, Tucker and her women's center colleagues tried to ease the pain of that unexpected loss with an informal memorial service in celebration of the life of their friend. It was at that service that the painting, which Shuck had presented to Nieto's sister that morning, was unveiled. Soon, the portrait will be permanently mounted in the entrance area of the women's center.

“We had a little bit of bluegrass music, because he loved music, and we released balloons in his honor,” said Tucker, explaining the service. “We just really wanted some closure as a unit; it was kind of our way of letting go, because this has been so hard…you can't even imagine how his patients feel after losing their doctor. And, now we have this beautiful painting done that we'll be able to hang up. It's so good; it's just like looking at him.”

The painting, Nieto's friends and colleagues say, captures the compassionate care of the doctor who delivered more than 10,000 babies throughout his career, as well as the spirit of the man who lived his life fully and with unequaled passion.

“Anytime you saw him, you never knew what he was going to be wearing or what he would say,” said Danny Hurley, owner of Danny's and a friend of Nieto's. “His dress attire was very unique, and he was a unique person. He was very outgoing, very outspoken, just a one-of-a-kind person. He was just a longtime friend of ours, and we have a picture of him hanging in the bar, above the jukebox, because he always loved it there and, this way, he'll still be with us.”

When he was in town, Nieto could often be found cutting up and socializing with friends at Danny's. Other times, though, he spent his free time traveling, never missing a chance to take in some good music or a big game.

“We'd go on Amtrak trips to see ballgames in Miami, and we went to all the blues festivals in New Orleans together,” said Williams. “We went on a blues cruise, one time. He loved all sports; he had a collection of sports books that was probably in the thousands, and he knew all the batting averages of Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, all those guys. He liked boxing, football, basketball; he was a very big fan of West Virginia University and Marshall, and any pro team with a player from one of those schools was his favorite.”

A former high school basketball player, Nieto wasn't only an avid sports fan, but a competitive participant, as well. There was one sport, however, that he didn't find to be to his liking.

“He tried golf one time,” laughed Long, “but he wasn't very good at it. It was sort of a joke, Joe playing golf; I think it was his friends just wanting to get him out there on the course. But, you couldn't beat him on sports trivia…Joe could lose his temper, and then, five minutes later, ask if you were hungry. He had a way when he would leave wherever he was; he didn't mince words; he'd usually just say, 'I gotta go, bye.' Most of all, though, he was available when you needed him.”

The loving father of three sons and widower whose wife died in 2006 was never too busy to help family or friends, and his dedication to his patients was unmatched, Long said. Although his medical career was cut short, the inimitable doctor's impact on the Princeton community is wide and deep.

“We could go to a high school football game and he'd say, 'I delivered that one, delivered that one, those two, and that one, that one and that one,” said Long.

The mark Nieto left on the hospital in which he served, Tucker added, is undeniable, as well.

“He used to joke around and say 'I built this place,' but he truly was the one constant to the PCH Women's Center,” she said. “The growth of this hospital has been under his influence.”

Sandy Counts, the women's center's nurse manager, echoes those sentiments.

“When he came, our delivery rates were down, and he certainly helped build them up, as well as the department in general,” she said. “He had a great impact on the community, being here for 21 years. But, we've not only lost a co-worker; we've lost a friend. He was a friend to all of the staff, and he related to the patients. He's certainly missed, here.”

A painting, she knows, can't fill the large hole that the irreplaceable doctor left at the center, but it can help keep his presence alive in the place where he completed his life's work.

“It's so lifelike, it's almost like he could step right out of it,” she said. “It's just him; it's perfect. It captures his expression, and it captures our memories of him. The picture is a real comfort to all of us who worked with Dr. Nieto for many, many years.”

For its creator, the painting brings a bit of solace in the wake of the tragedy of a lost friend.

“Joe and I went everywhere together for several of the past eight or nine years,” said Shuck. “He was really a dear friend to me and it hurt me when he died as bad as anyone in my life. Somehow, I hoped the portrait hanging in a permanent place would help me to deal with the finality of him being gone forever.”

It's the same comfort that many of the doctors and nurses who work in the PCH Women's Center will take from the painting when they walk by it each day.

“You always just think you're going to walk around the corner and he'll be there,” said Tucker. “It's going to be nice to have this reminder of him that is always here. Just being able to see his smiling face reminds us of how missed he is and how loved he was.”

— Contact CharLy Markwart at cmarkwart@ptonline.net.