The ageless caregiver: Martha Wilson has been a nurse for more than 50 years, and she's still not ready to retire

Many who know Martha Wilson would probably agree the term "ageless" is a perfect way to describe her.

The spry, fast-talking 83-year-old has worked as a licensed practical nurse for more than 50 years and still does private duty nursing and in-home care. This summer, the Missouri State Board of Nursing presented Wilson with a Gold Certificate commemorating her 50 years of service as a nurse.

Wilson was born in Jackson and graduated from John F. Cobb High School in Cape Girardeau in 1949. After marrying, moving to Chicago and having children, Wilson left what she calls a "bad marriage" and returned with her children to Southeast Missouri.

"I took a job as a housekeeper for Dr. Rusby Seabaugh, and he was a pistol," she says, referring to some of Seabaugh's eccentric ways. He encouraged her to consider a career in nursing because she was so good with people.

Wilson attended the Sikeston Practical School of Nursing and obtained her LPN degree in 1964.

"I was 33 when I went back to school to become a nurse," she says. "[The LPN program] only took a year to complete back then."

She then spent five years working at Southeast Hospital and 22 years working at Saint Francis Hospital, now known as SoutheastHEALTH and Saint Francis Medical Center, respectively.

"I worked at both the old Saint Francis hospital and the new one," says Wilson.

She then worked at Chateau Girardeau and Jackson Manor before becoming a private duty and in-home nurse through Guardian Angels In-Home Services LLC in Jackson.

Wilson says her favorite thing about being a nurse is helping other people.

"They always look so appreciative, and even if they can't speak, you can see it in their eyes," she says. "I've always liked to help people, no matter who they are, and people say I've got more patience than Job!"

She says her least favorite part of the job is seeing adult children being impatient with their elderly parents.

"I've stayed with patients before who have said 'Don't leave me' because they are afraid of being abused by their kids," says Wilson.

She has many fond memories of patients she has taken care of over the years.

"There was one little man who didn't want to stay at the nursing home; he didn't think he needed to be there, so he planned to run away," she says. "There was a pond out back, and I can't swim a stroke. It was pouring rain and that man got out and headed closer and closer to that pond. I ran after him and begged him not to leave, and he got within about two inches of that pond. Finally, I used a really strong tone of voice like I would do if my kids did something bad, and he came back in. I hugged him and [settled him down] and then went and talked to his doctor and they ended up letting him go home. My uniform was so soaking wet from the rain, they had to put it in the dryer at work! I saw that man one day at the grocery store and he came up and hugged me and said, 'I will never forget you as long as I live.'"

While going to school and working as a nurse, Wilson raised a six children: Four boys and two girls. She has 14 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

"One of my granddaughters recently graduated from Southeast Missouri State University as an RN [registered nurse], and I'm especially proud of that,"she says.

Her advice to others thinking about entering the nursing field is this: "Be sure it's in your heart. It's not easy if you are impatient. You have to have a love of nursing and be a people-lover as well."