They owed their children's lives to Gwen Derry"

by Jo-Ann Korosi

My parents had 4 children by the time Gwen came to Craigmyle, Alberta, my older brother and 3 sisters. My father had had a terrible experience with his smallpox vaccination when he was a boy so he did not allow his children to be vaccinated. As a result, they all came down with whooping cough at the same time. They ranged from two years to five years of age. All of the children were very ill and my parents had moved the children from their bedrooms to the living/dining room so they were never out of my parents' sight.

Whooping Cough in the late forties was very serious and could kill. When my siblings went in to their coughing fits my parents had to rush to their sides to sit them up and pound their backs to loosen the phlegm as they were too weak to cough without sitting up. Our District Health Nurse, Gwen Derry came and stayed with my parents - only leaving when she had to. Along with my parents, she nursed these children day and night.

Gwendolyn Mary White was born and raised in Edmonton. She graduated from the University of Alberta Hospital with a Bachelor of Science in 1939 and became a nurse with the Victorian Order of Nurses. In the early years of World War II she joined the Royal Canadian Air Force as a nursing sister. Gwen White came to Craigmyle after the war to serve as the District Health Nurse. These nurses cared for the whole community during a time when there was no public health care insurance. Visits to the doctor were rare because of the expense. It was the District Health Nurse you went to if you were sick. She would decide if you needed to see a doctor. While serving as the District Health Nurse, Gwen met and married Jack Derry and they raised their two sons.

So it was that Gwen Derry was there when my siblings were so dreadfully sick. One night things reached the crisis and she told my mother she had done all she could and that they would know by midnight how things were going to go. Gwen stayed with them all and around midnight the older children had started to breath easier. The two-year-old was very frail. My Dad was holding her up in the rocking chair. She had coughed so hard that when she was sat up to get rid of the phlegm, the blood ran out of her mouth. My parents were sure they would lose her but a little later, with Gwen by her side, she let out a big sigh and started to breath more easily. They all survived and are still alive today.

Every year after that my father bought Gwen Derry a dozen red roses at Christmas. That was no small feat in the winter in Craigmyle during the 40's, 50's and even the 60's. No words were ever spoken of debt but my parents knew very well they owed their childrens' lives to Gwen Derry. And all of the children were given their dreaded "shots" after that.

This story in itself would be an inspiration but it continues. Gwen Derry cared for her whole community and was probably it's most important citizen. She didn't even stop when her job was cut. She was always available for nursing advice.

When I was in grade nine and having trouble in science she tutored me. I passed my grade nine departmental exam. That was in 1968 and during her lessons she told me I should go into computers, as this was the wave of the future. (How smart she was.) I forgot that advice, finished high school, got married and had 2 children. When I traveled to Hanna (where Gwen had moved) the first time after my children were born, I had to go and show her my babies. When I walked in the door, she took them from my arms, laid them on the dining room table, stripped their clothes off and did a full assessment, pronounced them sound and wrapped them up and gave them back to me. Then came the questions to make sure I knew what the heck I was doing.

Years later when Gwen passed away my family was all there to say good bye (even though my brother and sisters had scattered across North America). It was standing room only at the funeral and her casket was so covered with a blanket of red roses that you could barely see it. She is buried in the Field of Honour in the Hanna Cemetery. Gwen Derry embodied everything that nursing is and hopefully ever will be. She was an intelligent, skilled practitioner who cared deeply about her patients and her community and never stepped back from a challenge. She did not ask for praise or recognition - she just did what good nurses do every day. This story is a tribute to her so that nurses can know they come from a very powerful and important tradition and to be a NURSE is no small thing.