Pictured are Barbara Vanderwark, sitting, and her daughter, Terry Flood, both of Jamestown. Barbara followed in her mother's footsteps and graduated from the Erie-2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES Adult Education LPN Program in 1968.

Barbara Vanderwark, pictured in the last row at far right, poses for her 1968 LPN capping ceremony.

Barbara Vanderwark’s summation of her life in nursing was short and sweet, but the memories it created meant more than words could express.

A resident of Jamestown, Vanderwark graduated from what was known at the time as the Jamestown School or Practical Nursing. Today, the Erie-2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES Adult Education LPN Program is celebrating 70 years.

One of the first graduates during the early years of the program was Vanderwark’s mother, Katherine Berlund.

“My mother had a lot to do with me pursuing a career in nursing,” Berlund explained.

A 1955 LPN graduate, Berlund was the first of what eventually became a long line of nurses in the Vanderwark family. Vanderwark retired from nursing in 1999, but her two daughters continue to work in the field to this day.

“My daughter Laurie (Pietras) started at WCA, she was senior staff nurse on 5-D in Orthopedics. She met her husband who was a lab tech there,” Vanderwark said.

Pietras, a graduate of D’Youville College, now works as a Registered Nurse in Greenville, South Carolina. Vanderwark’s other daughter, Terry Flood, is celebrating 40 years in September as a nurse aid at UPMC Chautauqua WCA.

When Vanderwark graduated from the LPN program in 1968, Flood was 10 years old.

“I was real busy with three kids when I went through the program,” Flood recalled. “If I had the opportunity I probably could have gone on to become a registered nurse, but LPN was enough for me. I loved taking care of the kids.”

As Vanderwark looked back while pouring through her nursing momentos, including her mother’s diploma and name badge, she couldn’t help but to think of what it’s all meant.

“I have no regrets … it was very fulfilling, working with children,” she said. “I loved my career as a nurse.”

Currently, Erie-2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES offers LPN classes at the Hewes Center in Ashville, Job Corps in Cassadaga and New Hope in Buffalo. Classes at Job Corps begin in February and July, while classes at the Hewes Center and New Hope begin in July 2019 and continue through June 2020.

There are 39 students enrolled between the two available classes at the Job Corps location, 27 students enrolled at Hewes and 31 day and 27 evening students enrolled at New Hope for the coming year. For more information or to register, eligible students can contact Cherish Mignoli at 595-4200.

Accuplacer testing for math, reading and writing begins soon and is $20 per test.

For more information please contact Susan Sosinski, health care services specialist, at 842-4106 or email ssosinski@e2ccb.org.