Washington Co., WI – It’s heartwarming to hear about the shared experiences and connections among independent-living residents Bonnie Falk, June Schroeder, Verna Thompson, and Sandy Blumenberg. Their common background as nurses who attended the Columbia Hospital School of Nursing has played a significant role in bringing them together.
Bonnie and June both live in Cedar Community’s independent living homes and had a chance meeting two years ago on the Cedar Lake Campus.
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While getting to know each other, they discovered they were both retired nurses and had both attended the Columbia Hospital School of Nursing. Two years later, Bonnie met Verna Thompson at a resident Coffee Hour. Verna is also a nurse and attended the same nursing program.
After being featured in the Live More magazine, it was discovered that Sandy Blumenberg, also an RN, attended Columbia Hospital School of Nursing. Together, they represent three different decades of attendees at the school.
The hospital was located on the east side of Milwaukee and offered a three-year program with classes being taught at Milwaukee Area Technical College. Columbia was a very prestigious hospital and medical pioneer, playing a leading role in medical research and physician specialties. Verna attended the school in 1950; Bonnie in 1961; June in 1964
then on to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for a bachelor’s degree; and Sandy in 1969, who also went on for her bachelor’s degree at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Together, their nursing careers spanned 138 years. Verna worked as a nurse for 29 years; Bonnie, 52 years; June, 25 years; and Sandy, 32 years.
During their time together, they talked about the monumental changes in healthcare, highlighting many of their personal experiences.
CLICK HERE to read more about this story in Cedar Community’s Spring edition of Live More magazine.
