Nursing grads from 1953 look back to Grace years
Twelve-hour days, cramped quarters, hospital food ... and a lot of enjoyment
Grace Hospital nursing graduates have halos.
The nurses from the Grace Hospital graduating class of 1953 said so at their 65th reunion Saturday. Decades ago, a doctor they worked with said they had halos, and his words stuck.
Eleven of the 55 graduates, all women in their 80s, met for dinner at the Windsor Yacht Club to reminisce about their student days at the former hospital on University Avenue West.
“We’re the best class that ever was,” said 89-year-old Jean Carter. She worked as a radiologist at a doctor’s office after high school for two years before deciding to become a registered nurse. She used money from the job to pay the $325 nursing school fee.
Carter said when she and her classmates first began school, senior nursing students treated them poorly. Junior students were not allowed to walk in front of more senior ones on the way to morning prayers, even if they were running late. When seniors entered the dining room, juniors had to stand.
“It was pretty miserable sometimes,” said Carter. “We made a vow that we wouldn’t treat the juniors like we had been treated. We made up our minds we wouldn’t demand that.”
The nurses wore starched white dresses and caps, and white shoes. From 1950 to 1953, they worked and learned at Grace Hospital 12 hours each day.
Ruth Trenholme, 86, worked full time at Grace Hospital for 25 years, and part time for many years after. She said the nursing students lived tightly packed in houses surrounding the hospital.
“We were in bunk beds in the living room and the dining room. Every room was a bedroom,” said Trenholme. “We had a little kitchen, but we ate in the hospital.” Trenholme said, some days, students had additional class periods after spending 12 hours at the hospital.
“At 7 o’clock we’d have to go to a lecture. We’d fall asleep and almost fall off the chair,” Trenholme said. Despite the long days, the women said they enjoyed their time as Grace nursing students.
“We were like a family,” said Trenholme. “We were very close. Half the time if someone had a boyfriend he picked us up too. We’d say we all wanted to go out and eat. We had fun that way.”
Marian Murray worked at Grace Hospital for 30 years, and said her career was wonderful.
“I’d do it all over again,” said Murray. She said nursing is much different now than it was when she and her friends began training in 1950.
“We got to do more work with patients,” said Murray. “Now it’s a lot of paperwork.”
Each woman at the reunion described having to quit their jobs to have children in the absence of maternity leaves. Not all of them went back to nursing, opting instead for full-time motherhood. Clark said she worked as a nurse a total of six years because she had kids. Others, like Trenholme, worked weekends when their husbands were home to look after the children.
Now, the graduates reunite every five years. They estimate half the graduating class has passed away, and the rest are no longer able to travel to the reunion. Only four of the graduates still live in WindsorEssex.
The women present were glad to see their former classmates again. “It’s exciting,” said Trenholme. “I’m happy that I’m still here to be able to do it.”
We got to do more work with patients. Now it’s a lot of paperwork.