My journey in the church began in a rural Lutheran church in Bucks County. I was baptized, confirmed and married in this church amidst my mother’s sisters and brothers and numerous cousins. Weekly attendance was mandatory for my brother and me, but I looked forward to being with family and the many friends I made in Sunday school, VBS and Luther League. I also attended Luther League with school friends at a Lutheran church in my home town of Chalfont.
Since my teenage years, I have always felt the need to help others and perhaps this is why I chose nursing as a career. I graduated from the Allentown Hospital School of Nursing in 1968 and moved to Philadelphia, where I obtained a BS in Nursing Degree from the University of Pennsylvania. The beauty of a nursing career is that there are so many areas to choose from.
In Philadelphia, I worked at Presbyterian Hospital as an obstetrics and gynecology nurse and for endocrinologists who specialized in fertility. In Allentown, I have worked at Cedarbrook and at the Raker Center at Good Shepherd. Both of these places gave me a sense of extended family,because clients did not change frequently. I retired in 2012 as a school nurse in the Parkland School District. Even in retirement, I have continued to care for family and friends during their medical crises.
My husband, Don, and I were married in 1973 and moved to Allentown. We have a daughter, Christine, who lives in Winter Park, FL, with her husband Shawn. There are no grandchildren, but we do have 4 grand dogs. Sadly, my stepson, Donnie, died suddenly last March.
As a nurse, I was required to work every other weekend during most of my career. This limited
my ability to become involved in most church activities. But when I joined St. John’s 13 years ago, I was working as a school nurse and this allowed me to become more involved. I am presently in my third year on church council and am council liaison to the Stewardship Committee. This service has introduced me to many members of the congregation and has opened doors to more areas of service in the church. I volunteer at the Food Bank on the 5 th Monday of the month. I am a communion assistant frequently at the 8 AM service and serve on the altar guild. I really enjoy being a member of Knitting for Charity, where I can share my talent of knitting for others in need. I have helped in the kitchen during VBS. During the past year, I have organized the medical equipment that St. John’s has available on loan and maintain the working order of the AED devices on the premises.
I look forward to meeting and getting to know more members of St. John’s in the future.