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“WOMAN OF MONTANA ESSAY WINNERS” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S5034-S5035 on June 5, 2002.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
WOMAN OF MONTANA ESSAY WINNERS
Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I would like to congratulate the winners of the American Association of University Women ``Woman of Montana'' essay contest, Gina Young. Her essay is entitled ``Rehbein.'' I also congratulate Maureen Sullivan. Her essay is entitled ``Effie Dockstander Holmes: A Woman for All Seasons.''
The essays follow:
Rehbein
When I think of a woman who has dedicated most of her life helping Montana citizens, I think of my grandmother, Mary Alice Rehbein. For fifty years, she has served the state of Montana in the field of public health. During her years of work and dedication, she has earned the respect of people allover Montana, including myself. From her I have learned how to set goals, to accept the differences of others, and to be responsible for myself.
R represents responsibility. Mary Alice Rehbein was born in Jamestown, North Dakota, July 20, 1918, to Ed and Mary Louise Barnhart. She had only nine short years to learn the responsibilities and lessons of life from her mother. At the age of nine, Mary Alice lost her mother to breast cancer. After that tragic death, her father could not stand the loss and moved away from Jamestown leaving Mary Alice to be raised by very strict, practical, but loving grandparents. Her grandparents felt that an education was an absolute must. Mary Alice knew that an education was the only way she would be able to survive in the future.
E stands for her life-long education. Mary Alice Rehbein graduated from high school in 1937. She attended business college for two years while selling insurance. Mary Alice realized that she was not going to be very successful at this career because she was a woman. This was the time in Mary Alice's life that she needed to re-evaluate her career choice and money situation. She finally withdrew the last seventy-five dollars remaining of her mother's life insurance policy. Mary Alice found that she could enroll in nursing school for exactly that amount, so she jumped at the chance of a lifetime and invested her last penny in her education. Mary Alice's lifetime of nursing and honors began upon the completion of her nursing degree in 1943.
H symbolizes Mary Alice Rehbein's various honors. She has been recognized and received numerous awards throughout her years of service. Some of her honors include Sidney's ``Woman of the Year'' award; the Montana State Department of Health's Public Health Nursing Award for Outstanding and Meritorious Work; an award from the Montana State Mental Health Association; an award from the National League of Nursing Board; and the Dr. Mary Souls Nursing Award, which is the highest honor bestowed on a nurse in Montana and North Dakota. Mary Alice has also held many prestigious offices. She served as a representative to the National League of Nursing Advisory Board for the Western Region of the United States; held the position of the vice-president for the State Nurses Association; and is currently the President of the Montana Nursing League and a member of the Governor's Advisory Board for Aging. Each honor and position has recognized her leadership and the services she has given to public health for the state of Montana. Mary Alice Rehbein is proud of her honors and offices, but she feels the greatest reward has been to provide beneficial health care to the citizens of the community.
B portrays how beneficial Mary Alice has been to people of Montana. She was the Richland County Health Nurse for forty-five years. During her years of working she saved lives, helped deliver babies, gave shots to patients for illness and immunizations, checked children's posture and teeth, administered medical attention to the rural areas with orders from the doctors, provided nursing care to schools, monitored blood pressures, and provided home health care for those in need. She has traveled to every state, with the exception of Maine and Alaska, as well as to hospitals in Australia, New Zealand, and Russia. In each of her expeditions she studied, shared information, and acquired knowledge about the availability and kinds of community health. Mary Alice Rehbein has enjoyed her nursing career.
E denotes all of her efforts and enjoyment. Mary Alice has spent a lifetime providing nursing service and teaching people about health care. Nothing has been more fulfilling than to see the joy of people, at any age, caring about their health, says Mary Alice, and to employ new nursing ideas.
I exemplifies the innovative nursing ideas Mary Alice has brought to Eastern Montana. Besides the general health program that Mary Alice Rehbein ran, she was responsible for the Alcohol and Drug Abuse program until it had funding of its own. She ran the monthly, blood pressure clinics for Richland County and was active in finding ways to provide immunization clinics to isolated residents. In the 1950's, she began encouraging the Mental Health professionals of Montana to provide services to people in out-lying areas of Eastern Montana. She has been instrumental in providing home health care to many people who could not get or afford health care. In addition, she provided hospice care. Mary Alice says that nursing is one profession that will not be replaced with total technology, since people will always need ``hands on'' nursing care.
N depicts the profession of nursing. Mary Alice Rehbein is the oldest, insured, and licensed nurse in the state of Montana. After her numerous years devoted to helping the residents of Montana, she has retired as Richland County Public Health Nurse. In her free time she visits lonely people who do not have families to talk to, she looks in on people who need nursing care, she continues to stay up-to-date on the latest nursing trends, and she still makes time to take blood pressures in her small community.
Out of all of the women who have helped the state of Montana, Mary Alice Rehbein has been one of the most remarkable. She has dedicated her life to helping the people of Montana and has instilled in me the belief that the true treasure of life is a person's health. Therefore, I believe Mary Alice REHBEIN is one of the Great Montana Women.
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Effie Dockstader Holmes, A Woman for All Seasons
The door flew open after a sharp knock and a young man burst in. ``Effie, come quick! There's been a terrible accident.'' My grandmother, Effie Clark Dockstader Holmes, quickly gathered up her medical bag and some clean sheets and set out on a run with the young man. My grandma was a registered nurse, the original one woman QRU for Bigfork. Townsfolk came to Effie with all sorts of medical problems, especially for emergencies or accidents. Over the years Effie dispensed comfort, consolation and healing, saving lives and improving the quality of life for many Bigfork residents. Effie never failed to respond.
One tragic incident is still very much alive in her memory.
``The little girl just lay there. It didn't look good; it was very serious.'' The child had been accidentally run over by a family friend. My grandma could see that there was little she could do herself for the child's massive injuries. But it would be too late when an ambulance got to Bigfork. So Effie started to Kalispell with the little girl in her car. However the journey was short when the child died on the way to the hospital. My grandmother delivered the devastating news to the family. ``It was very hard, and I shouldn't have been the one to do it, but no one else wanted to . . . .'' My grandma received the Bigfork Citizen of the Year Award in recognition of her contributions to her community.
In 1917, my grandmother and her family left Kansas for their new home in Montana. The long, arduous trek in a Model-T Ford took almost a year. The Clarks homesteaded a parcel of land on the east shore of Flathead Lake. After attending grade school in Bigfork, Effie had to live with a family in Kalispell during the week while going to Flathead High School since the trip from Bigfork was too long to make each day.
My grandma went on to college at Sacred Heart School of Nursing in Spokane, Washington after high school. Bigfork held a dance at the Town Hall to celebrate the momentous event of Effie's departure for college. She was a trailblazer for her time. After graduation, she took a nursing position in Missoula, returning to her beloved Montana. When her Aunt Effie became seriously ill, my grandma quit her job to care for her aunt in Bigfork, staying on with her uncle after her aunt's death. Amazingly, my grandmother still lives in that same house on Electric Avenue where she took care of her Aunt Effie.
My grandmother was introduced to James Dockstader at a dance. When Effie taught Jim to dance, she had no idea this would be the man who would teach her the many lessons of love. My grandparents settled into a farming life, close to the earth and raised three children in Bigfork, each of whom still lives in the area with their families. My grandfather died from cancer on November 20, 1988 at home.
Few people get the chance to revisit their past and to choose the ``road not taken,'' but my grandma did. It all began when the day of Bigfork's Whitewater Festival in 1995 proved to be filled with shock, memories of a past romance, and the promise of true love rekindled.
My grandma recalls the day when Ernest Holmes swept her off her feet for the second time in amazingly vivid detail. Effie was standing outside her house in downtown Bigfork when a stranger asked if she knew Effie Clark. My grandmother replied, ``I'm Effie.'' ``I'm Prunie,'' Ernest responded, using his old high school nickname. Without hesitation, the two embraced repeatedly and began joyously reminiscing right on Electric Avenue. Their reunion continued over lunch.
From that day my grandma was a different person, happier and more full of life than I had ever seen her. This man had long before left a mark on my grandmother's life and heart. Prunie and Effie had been sweethearts when she attended high school in Missoula for one year while her father was working there. Effie returned to Bigfork when her father's job ended the next June. Effie and Prunie were pinned, going steady, and promised to remain true to one another despite the distance. However, an unfortunate misunderstanding broke the two apart, seemingly forever. Ernie was determined to mend the situation and get Effie back, making the long, difficult trip from Missoula to Bigfork in his Model T. However, my grandmother's mind was set and she refused even to come to the door and hear his explanation and apology. Her resolve led to a separation of sixty-six years that was finally bridged that Whitewater Day.
After years of raising their own families, Effie and Prunie were finally together again. A whirlwind romance rekindled their love and passion. My grandmother married Ernest Holmes on August 4, 1995, her 85th birthday, and I was the maid of honor! The day was beautiful, the church was filled to overflowing with friends, family and townsfolk, my grandmother was stunning, and it was one of the happiest days of both of our lives. My new grandfather spent five wonderful years with us before he died in April of 2000.
Sitting in her chair among the many dolls she has made and collected over the years, with antiques younger than she, my grandmother smiles and laughs with the ease of a child and the wisdom of experience. She has lived through much and seen great changes, learning from it all. Effie Dockstader Holmes is a treasure of Montana, a woman to be remembered always. An intelligent, independent woman who fought against the odds at a time when females usually stayed home, my grandmother is truly a modern pioneer woman. She melded the life of homemaker with the career of caretaker of the sick and injured, her only rewards the thanks of those she helped and the knowledge that she had made a difference.
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