
Janet Collier Durgin recalls her more than three decades of nursing and the lives she touched along the way with pride.
The 101-year-old spent most of those service years in Orangeburg, first at the Orangeburg Regional Hospital and then the Regional Medical Center, now MUSC Health–Orangeburg.
Her selfless dedication to her craft, which began as a member of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps, led to her being named a Military Women’s Memorial Living Legend during a ceremony held at St. Timothy’s Lutheran Church in Camden on Sept. 11.
“That was amazing. It was kind of overwhelming. I never expected anything like that,” Durgin said.
The New Jersey native now lives in Lugoff, where her youngest daughter also lives. She was surrounded by her loving family and friends, along with state and local dignitaries, during the ceremony.
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“I’m telling you, when I first heard about it, I never expected such a celebration,” Durgin said.
Durgin is a registered member of the Military Women’s Memorial, located at the ceremonial entrance to Arlington National Cemetery. Established in 1997, the memorial honors women who have served in the U.S. military and associated service organizations.
Durgin became a registered nurse through the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps.
She entered the Cadet Nurse Corps program at Mountainside Hospital School of Nursing in Montclair, N.J., in September of 1943 and graduated salutatorian of her class in 1947.
“I was one of two honored to receive a scholarship awarded for ‘outstanding work,’” Durgin said.
She knew she wanted to become a nurse at an early age.
“Well, when I was a little girl, I used to spend the night with a little friend. Her mama was a nurse, and she’d always tell us tales about the hospital when she was a nurse in the first World War. I just was enthralled. I said, ‘I want to be a nurse.’ When I graduated from high school, I applied at the Mountainside Hospital, and they turned me down after interviewing me and said I was too young and too naïve,” she said.
Durgin was determined to not give up on her goals.
“I enrolled in a medical secretarial course to get some medical background, and after graduating from that school, I went to work for a doctor for a couple of years until World War II broke out. I applied at Mountainside Hospital in the Cadet Nurse Corps. I was accepted there, along with 49 others – I made the 50th one – to enter that class,” she said.
Durgin continued, “They said I had more than enough credits to be accepted. … We entered the Cadet Corps class, and we were capped in 1945, the first of February. We were so thrilled to have a white cap to wear. We had three years of intensive nursing training.”
“The Cadet Nurse Corps was founded in 1943 to ensure a continued supply of nurses, and the Corps had more than 95,000 members in the first year, more than any other of the women services at that time. The cadet pledge was to stay in essential nursing for the duration of the war either military or civilian. We had three years of intensive nursing, and we had a pediatric affiliation for three months in a children’s hospital in Philadelphia,” she said. “We had a psychiatric affiliation in the state hospital in Trenton.”
She married the late Edmund Davis Durgin, the younger brother of her cadet nurse school roommate, in 1947 after the end of World War II.
“After our honeymoon, I took my state board exam in October of 1947. After passing that, I was a registered nurse and went to work at the Mountainside Hospital, where I trained. In November of 1947, we moved to South Carolina. That’s where I worked at the Richland hospital,” Durgin said.
She moved with her husband to Orangeburg in 1955.
She was head nurse on the surgical floor at the then-Orangeburg Regional Hospital from 1963 to 1968. Durgin then accepted an offer as head nurse of surgical and outpatient services at the Urological Institute in Orangeburg in 1968.
“I worked there from 1968 until 1984. I was head nurse of the urological rooms at the new hospital (Regional Medical Center, now MUSC Health–Orangeburg) in the X-ray department from 1984 to 1987. I retired in 1987 after about 30 years in nursing,” Durgin said.
She and her late husband are the parents of Andr’ee Wannamaker of Summerville and Sue Graham of Lugoff. They were also the parents of the late Edmund Davis Durgin.
“One of my fondest memories is people telling me that I inspired them to go into nursing – my daughter, my daughter-in-law, my granddaughter, a niece and some friends. That was my greatest reward,” Durgin said.
Graham said, “I’m one of the nurses that my mother inspired. I grew up being absolutely amazed at the person that she was, her character and her kindness and giving to everyone all the time. She’s the most selfless person I’ve ever known.”
She continued, “I wanted to be just like her. I was given the opportunity to work with her at the Urological Institute when I was 16 years old and proceeded to go into nursing school after that. The most rewarding time in my nursing career was when I was able to work with my mother and firsthand observe her in action.”
Wannamaker said, “Like Sue, I always wanted to be a nurse like mama. She even made me a little nursing outfit when I was little. I loved to wear it and the cap. I still have it.”
While she did not have “the makeup” to become a nurse, Wannamaker nonetheless admired her mother’s talent.
“God didn’t bless me that way, but I have a daughter. My daughter is the granddaughter that was inspired by mama, and she is an RN, also. So I passed it along even though I couldn’t do it,” she said.
Wannamaker said her mother picked the right field to display her kindness and compassion.
“I used to go up with her sometimes in the afternoon. She’d go do some errands, but she’d have to stop by the Urological Institute and do a few things. I saw the extra time and preparation she put into it,” Wannamaker said.
Durgin still actively serves in her church, where her recognition ceremony was held. She started a church ministry, where she calls, writes cards and sends messages to others who need it most.
Wannamaker said, “It’s wonderful to have this ceremony to honor her and for us to be able to just enjoy that and be so proud of her as we always have been. … It was just a wonderful time and just such an honor. We’re just very proud and humbled by the whole situation.”
Wannamaker and her family thanked retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Barbara Kucharczyk, who serves as the South Carolina ambassador for the Military Women’s Memorial. Kucharczyk attended the Sept. 11 ceremony.
Kucharczyk said, “There are 151 Living Legend proclamations that have been given by the Military Women’s Memorial. In South Carolina, there are six Living Legend proclamations that have been given. Ms. Janet is number six. So she’s in high company.”
“This has just been a great adventure for all of us, for Ms. Janet and her family and for myself. Speaking with her and collecting information about her story and getting her registered for the memorial and then presenting the Living Legend proclamation was just a highlight,” she said.
Kucharczyk continued, “And we graciously had some dignitaries that came in, representatives from Rep. Ralph Norman’s office, Sen. Tim Scott’s office sent a representative, South Carolina Sen. Penry Gustafson was there in person, as was Mayor Alfred Mae Drakeford, the mayor of Camden. They all came in person.”
“We also had letters from Sen. Lindsey Graham and state Sen. Thomas McElveen III and the governor. They all sent letters to Mrs. Durgin. So she has quite an array of documents celebrating this event,” she said.
Durgin is grateful for it all.
“It’s been such a rewarding experience. We all from the country came together during the war effort to keep this country safe. We were just trying to do our part,” she said.
Durgin said the Military Women’s Memorial is noteworthy.
“I think it’s a wonderful organization honoring the women that served in this country. I am trying to contact some of my cadets that were in my class that are still living. I just found out that my brother’s wife was a Marine in World War II and that her daughters had been to the opening of this women’s memorial. They registered her,” she said.
Durgin said being more than 100 years old is also something she is proud of and thankful to God for.
“I thank him every day for blessing me with my wonderful family and friends and all my experiences. I am very grateful… I’m still able to keep going,” she said.
Durgin continued, “I still live in my own little house thanks to my daughters and neighbors and friends that help me out so much. … I’m just thankful to be able to get around and do what I can. Life’s been good to me.”
Contact the writer: dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5534. Follow “Good News with Gleaton” on Twitter at @DionneTandD
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