Question of the Week: Do you have any nurses in your family tree? [closed]

+41 votes
4.1k views

imageDo you have any nurses in your family tree? Please tell us about them with an answer below or on Facebook. You can also use the question image on social media so friends and family will see your answer.

in The Tree House by Eowyn Langholf G2G Astronaut (2.7m points)
Yes I worked as an RN between 1970-1985 in mmedicine, geriatrics and Home Care. Due to a hereditary tremor then went farming.

Sharon L. (Dewald) Skeels

PS. Aunt Kay (Stewart) Dewald worked as nurse probably in Ireland and here in Canada.

First cousin Marlene (Ensminger) Donovan worked perhaps overeseas, in Mississippi, and here in Canada.

Aunt Marge Ensminger worked for years in operating rooms in Canada.

Rosemary (Ryan) Dewald worked as a RPN in Canada.
Yes, my sister is a nurse.
Ruth Yager (Smith) b:1892 was a surgical nurse-She is my 2nd great aunt. Legend has it that she had a special stool in the OR because she was so short!

Then there is me- an RN and now a Family Nurse Practitioner.

I always knew I wanted to be a nurse, and have loved every minute of it!

Betty (McCracken) Adams was said to be a nurse, and her son is currently a RN

I worked as an LPN for 20 yrs. Now retired. But still consider myself a nurse. My skills were just as important as anyone else's in the medical field.smiley

I am unaware of any nurses in our family in previous generations but in my generation there are many.There are 3 girls in our family. I am the oldest and I am a Nurse/ Nurse Practitioner. My middle sister's son just graduated and has begun his career in Nursing. My youngest sister is an Nurse/Nurse Practitioner, her daughter is a Nurse and has now become  a Family Medicine Doctor. So we love and appreciate nurses.
My mother was for at least 25 years, and also did home health care. As far as I'm aware no one else in my family followed that path.
I am a nurse, RN and my 3rd cousin is also a nurse, RN. I don't believe there are any other nurses in my family
My maternal grandmother Carolynn Elizabeth Sawyer, born Carolynn Elizabeth Reem, father Fredrick Reem, was Registered Nurse and was a Sgt. Major at Madigan Army Hospital at Joint Ft. Lewis/McCord Air Force Base in Tacoma Washington. She also worked as an R.N. in Spokane Washington, but I dont know where to be exact.
In my husband's extended family the girls are nurses and some of the boys are priests.

83 Answers

+29 votes
 
Best answer
A grandaughter, 2 daughters and a spouse.
by John Thompson G2G6 Pilot (398k points)
selected by Greg Webber
John, you are certainly a lucky man to have four wonderful women in your life. My best friend and several other friends are nurses, and they are all so giving and kind.
Grand daughter became an RN looking after son  with rare mitochondria disease.....daughter and son-in-law became nurses for son with rare cancer.....wife nursed all of the above, including me when I "died" in 2017......another daughter became an RN in N.Carolina and ended up in the hospital with cracked ribs from surfing in waves ahead of a hurricane......oh ya, before all this, on the way to date an RN on my motorcycle, I was slightly delayed jumping on the hood of a Valiant, somersaulting back over the 'cycle to a kneeling position with my shoes parked in front of me......retrieved the 'cycle from under the the car, completed a date including ride and pizza, was escorted to the hospital with grapefruit sized swelling on leg, wrote off the motorcycle, overhauled a crane, took a holiday......and, was rewarded with a daughter, now an RN.........and, oh, how about honourable mention to great grand father, Surgeon General, who my father says he owes his life.....in WWI, 18 Royal Navy....there's RN again.....officers were taken off the ships with Spinal Meningitis.......only my father and his friend survived, as the others wouldn't take the cod liver oil prescribed.......now how else would I be here to give some insight into some of nurses work?
Oh, thankyou Alexis, Just thought I'd answer a question that popped up while I was Gmailing a newfound cousin about joining WikiTree......little did I realize where this would go when I started.
What a wonderful story! So glad you gave us the full version and not just the recap.

Thanks Joyce,   Are you having fun here, on WikiTree,  I certainly hope so.smiley

Yes, this is fun. Educational too.  Much better than collecting "begats" or DAR Patriot Ancestors.
Begat.......now there's a word I've heard......looked up the definition.......oh, that's easy, but still don't  know enough.......on to a blog about some of its use......quit reading 'cause I'm learning too much.    It's too dangerous to know that  you know what your'e doing........did I get that right?
Meningitis must have been a real scary thing on ships. In 1942, a Royal Australian Air Force friend was ferrying on the USS Tuscaloosa to Murmansk. They turned the ship around, back to Scapa Flow to get him cleared before proceeding
I was told, as a child in 1950's, about the young officers being carried off the ships on stretchers.......still have the image in my mind.
+27 votes
My maternal grandmother took an "at home" practical nurses course and took care of sick people in their homes after my grandfather died in 1926. She was still supporting three children.

Now, one of my daughters is an ICU nurse and her husband is a home health hospice nurse. Tough and tiring time for them.
by Virginia Fields G2G Astronaut (1.3m points)
Virginia......I know what the care nurses do.....for 3 months,in the hospital and care home they looked after me ......couldn't move, then learned to walk eventually .......very painful on the muscles.....had to get better, couldn't die no matter how hard I tried.....and they were spending a million dollars to keep me alive ...... not to mention it was killing my wife living in the hospital to help out.

.
So glad you recovered and are still with us on WikiTree! It was meant to be. It sounds like your care was superb. Thank you for commenting on my answer!

yes..........                             see what I learned to doblush   Seen much of my friendly Texan coworkers lately?

+27 votes

Yes, my grand aunt Gwen Lovelace was a nurse. She never married, and my grandmother told me it was because when Gwen was young she was engaged to a doctor. The story is that he was making a house call in a buggy, and the horse shied, throwing him from the buggy-- causing him to hit his head and die. She worked here in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Later she moved to Buckhannon, West Virginia, and I went to stay at her home the summer I was fourteen.   

by Alexis Nelson G2G6 Pilot (912k points)
Alexis,  I can understand her feelings, and possibly yours, I watched my grand mother carry on for another 54 years after she lost her husband.......faithful to the end.
Thank you John for your sweet comment. Sometimes there is only that one great love.

heart  Dedicated to their memory........

+25 votes

The only one that comes to mind (besides my niece) is my great-grandmother, Mary Etta (Ames) Peasley. She died before my mother was born. Only found out through her death certificate.

by Azure Robinson G2G6 Pilot (744k points)
Azure thank you for sharing lovely the photo of Mary Etta.
Azure,  It's not that I don't like colour......I just really like black and white photos.......shows character.
Lovely photo.
Especially for her generation,  being a nurse was quite noble.   I love the full photo,  it's well framed and your great grandmother is perfect.

Thanks for sharing.
+25 votes
My mother left Nurses Training at Anchor Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota during her senior year. She married my father and was pregnant. You could not be married and attend school in 1938.

I was a diploma RN and started working in 1963. I obtained a BSN in 1989. I worked until I was 73 years old.

My daughter is a RN working in an Emergency Room.
by Adrienne St John G2G1 (1.7k points)
Adrienne,  In Fort St.John, 1953, grade 3, 7 yrs. old, I was forewarned that Mrs. Foster, in the family way, was soon to be replaced........I prepared, for what I don't know.......the world didn't end.......remember her as a very nice person.
+24 votes
My mother, one sister and my aunt were all nurses.
by Robynne Lozier G2G Astronaut (1.4m points)
Robynne,  Went back to the care home a year later and thanked them......want to go back again, but not wise right now......have a solution, can I thank your nurses?
You can try John, but 2 out of the 3 have already passed away...

heart  In Memory .

+24 votes

My Aunt Mildred was a nurse in the early to mid 1900s.  I also have a niece who is a nurse.  As a child, I always said I wanted to be a nurse, but it didn't work out that way.

by Robin Shaules G2G Astronaut (1.6m points)
Robin,  Thanks for remembering your nurses and wishes.....My wife is telling me to close the computer and get some sleep.....I think she means,or I'll need a nurse! I hope no nurses go unrecognized.
+24 votes
My grandmother worked as a nurse in London in the 1960s, caring for elderly people. Also a great great aunt, [[McCormack-1518|Julia McCormack]], immigrated to New York from Ireland and put herself through nursing school in New York City Hospital. She qualified in the 1910s and went on to a successful career in a private hospital.
by Alicia McCormack G2G6 Mach 1 (13.0k points)
+26 votes
I am a RN, 43 years, all of my years working in mental health and addictions-my passion. It is not really a career, it is a calling, it is who I am.
by Melanie Ham G2G1 (1.4k points)
Thats the truth-it is a calling, sometimes someone has to point you in the right way, but it is something your born with in your heart.

Thank you for the 43 years-and you never stopped there at 43 years...
+22 votes
My maternal grandmother, a maternal aunt, a paternal aunt and my daughter-in-law were/are nurses.
by David Carlson G2G6 Pilot (435k points)
+22 votes
My great-uncle Arthur took ill while serving in the Navy in the late 1920's.  He was sent to convalesce in a Naval Hospital in Santa Monica.  His sister came to act as nurse-maid to him and while there, she met a man who was a real nurse.  They later married and had several children and then returned to his native Norway.  My great-grandmother was visiting her in Norway when she died and now is buried there.  I've been to Bergen Norway twice to visit that branch of the family - wonderful country Norway, very scenic with lovely people.
by SJ Baty G2G Astronaut (1.2m points)
Thank you SJ for sharing your great family story and your connection with Norway.
Great story SJ,   you family history certainly has depth...... beyond just the fact that you're good at research.
+22 votes
My maternal aunt, Vlasta Antoinette Tremayne earned an M.S. in Nursing.

Another Hughey woman was Dr. Christopher Martin Hughey's eldest daughter,Ophelia A. Hughey, was a nurse.
by David Hughey G2G Astronaut (1.7m points)
+20 votes
I have lots of nurces in my family tree. There is my mother and her sister as well as their mother. On the other side of the family my great-grandmother was a nurse.
by Greg Webber G2G6 Mach 1 (15.9k points)
+20 votes
I have only one nurse in my family; it is the 21 year old girlfriend of my son.
by Dieter Lewerenz G2G Astronaut (3.2m points)
+18 votes
None in my tree, but both my husband and myself are retired registered nurses.
by Joan Whitaker G2G6 Pilot (179k points)
You don't include yourself in your tree?
+18 votes
My daughter is an RN in the Emergency Room. She makes me proud to see her take pride in what she does..
by Candy Smith G2G2 (2.4k points)
+17 votes

My cousin Jeanie House https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/House-4597 was an army nurse in WW II. She helped Concentration camp victims after the war. 

by Joelle Colville-Hanson G2G6 Pilot (158k points)
+17 votes
I'm a bit surprised that I don't know of any direct line nurses in my family tree..... however, my step-niece is an RN.   It's such a well respected profession,   I'd be proud to have more!
by Peggy McReynolds G2G6 Pilot (490k points)
+17 votes
The women in my family tree are mostly French women from Acadia and Québec and before that from France.  They were full-time mom's and generally had huge families.  I am the youngest of 11 children.  My mom was a superwoman.  She taught school for 35 years and still managed to raise our family.  Both my grandmothers were the oldest daughters in their families.  Both had to drop out of school in the 8th grade to help raise their younger siblings.  Of my five living sisters, four worked or still work as teachers in some capacity.  My other sister was a full-time mom for many years and worked as a house cleaner on the side.  When her kids went to college, she began working as a mail deliverer for the US postal service.  The new generation has nurses.  I have 24 nephews and nieces.  Two of my nephews are nurses and three of my nieces are nurses.  One of those nieces has volunteered to work in the emergency Covid clinic in Phoenix, AZ.  One other niece is a physical therapist and the wife of one of my nephews is also an ER nurse.  About 20% of the younger generation of my family is comprised of nurses.
by Robert Daigle G2G6 Mach 1 (15.2k points)
edited by Robert Daigle
My maternal grandmother, great aunt, and aunt were all wonderful RN’s.
It's a profession that originally was dominated by women as evidenced by your answer, which is why I began my answer talking about the women in my family.  I'm happy to see male nurses represented in the newest generation of young professionals in my family.
+16 votes

Woman in white nurses cap I recall researching and creating one profile for a nurse in my family tree. This was Mabel DeGraux, who was a nurse before she became the wife of a 1st cousin twice removed (I had to look up that relationship just now surprise). Her father died when she was very young, and she apparently was farmed out to live with relatives as a child. I imagine that she was very proud of her accomplishments when in 1908 she was one of the first eight nursing trainees to graduate from the three-year training course of the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital Nursing School in Brattleboro, Vermont. The photo in her profile is from a class portrait.

by Ellen Smith G2G Astronaut (1.6m points)

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