THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 30, 1995 TAG: 9511290155
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SHIRLEY BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FRANKLIN LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
LAST WINTER, Thelma Applewhite began to long for leisure time to work in her yard or visit her family and friends.
Before she announced her retirement as a nurse's aide, however, Applewhite, 66, hoped to meet a personal goal. She wanted to celebrate a half-century of service - first, at the old Raiford Memorial Hospital and later, at Southampton Memorial Hospital.
Last month, Applewhite accomplished her goal. At a party in her honor, she received a certificate from the hospital staff recognizing her for ``2,600 weeks, 600 months, or 50 years of dedicated service to the community.'' Honored with a cake, gifts and other awards, she also received a congratulatory letter from Gov. George Allen.
``I think I'm the first one to work 50 years at the hospital,'' Applewhite said, smiling. ``I love the people there. I couldn't have stayed there that long if I didn't. I see them more than I see my own family.''
Although her retirement will become official in January, Applewhite has no intention of giving up her work entirely.
``The closer the time gets to leaving, the sadder I get,'' she said. ``I know I want to do volunteer work at the hospital and I'd like to do some private duty one or two days a week.''
Through the years, Applewhite has worked with newborns and surgical patients, but her favorite duty is working with elderly patients in Skilled Care.
``I enjoy taking care of the elderly,'' she said. ``There are those with broken hips who often go to nursing homes if they can't do anything for themselves any more. They appreciate all the little things you do. I get to know their families real well and I even wash their gowns by hand on my lunch time.''
Born in Silver, S.C., Applewhite was the second of eight children. When she was 11, Applewhite's mother died at home after giving birth to her eighth child. The experience made a lasting impression on Applewhite and led her into the health care profession.
``When my mother died, we had no car or phone to get help and it was frightening,'' she said. ``It affected me a whole lot and I knew I had to get out and work. I wanted to do something to help people.''
At 15, Applewhite and her older sister, Cathryn, went to live with their grandparents. The girls moved to Franklin when their grandfather was transferred from Marion, S.C. with Union Camp Corporation.
Her sister went to work at a peanut factory and Applewhite applied for a position at the former Raiford Memorial Hospital located on the corner of Main Street and Second Avenue in downtown Franklin.
There were several other job applicants waiting to be interviewed that day, but Applewhite's persistance paid off.
``I sat there five hours,'' she said, laughing. I intended to get that job. The rest of the girls were impatient and left.''
Applewhite was hired to work in the nursery in the mornings and attended a nurse's aide course in the afternoons.
``I've walked a mile to work in all kinds of weather,'' she said. ``If there was no other way and the weather was real bad, the hospital would ask the police to pick me up and bring me to work. Of course, they don't do that anymore.''
Applewhite has worked all shifts and seen many changes in the health care profession. Assigned to the nursery for two years, she noted that many premature babies and new mothers died years ago.
``They know so much more now,'' Applewhite said. ``In those days, we didn't have room to accommodate everybody. We had to put screens around patients in the hall. Everything had to be sterilized. Now we have so many throw-away items. It was a happy day when we moved from Raiford to Southampton Memorial. There's so much more room and everything's so convenient.''
A resident of Holland Station, Applewhite enjoys crafts and sewing. She walks to services at Saint Matthews Holiness Church, located across the road from her home.
She has been married to her second husband, Paul Applewhite, for 25 years. Semi-retired, he owns Carver Cemetery in Suffolk.
Applewhite has a daughter, Ida Mills, who works in the laundry room at the hospital, and a 21-year-old grandson, Alexis Lemont Mills, both of Franklin. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Nurse's aide Thelma Applewhite tends to patient Alvin Hatfield at
Southampton Memorial Hospital.
by CNB