She Nurses Memories And Health

In high school, Jeanne Bock wanted to heal animals. But it was the mid-1960s when most girls still allowed themselves to be channeled into “feminine” fields.

So Jeanne earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing and went into public health. She braved rattrap hotels to check on Spokane’s winos, befriended people dying in their homes, tracked infectious diseases - and she loved it.

“Public health has extended the life expectancy,” Jeanne says, the fires of idealism still bright in her eyes.

Jeanne, who lives in Sandpoint, belongs with people. She likes them and wants to keep them alive. The pay isn’t great, but she’s not in it for the money.

Her memories are crowded with faces. There are the Western Washington Indian people on whom she trained. They showed her that public health transcends cultural barriers.

There is the old woman dying of emphysema who told Jeanne she was so tired of fighting for every breath. There is the woman who phoned Jeanne because she couldn’t get her child in for a checkup. Jeanne went with her on the bus.

She learned from the best how to nurse the masses. When Jeanne signed on with the Panhandle Health District 10 years ago, the woman who tested teenagers for sexually transmitted diseases was 64.

“She just accepted them all despite pierced body parts and poor lifestyles,” Jeanne says. “She didn’t lecture or act superior. She never judged.”

Jeanne shifted from the front lines into administration four years ago. Now she helps track such deadly diseases as the hantavirus.

She hunts for money to keep a nurse in Coeur d’Alene’s office. That nurse helps drop-in visitors who are too poor to pay a doctor until they absolutely have to. Not long ago, the nurse detected breast cancer in one woman who stopped by, and a degenerative nerve condition in another woman’s toddler.

That’s what it’s all about, says Jeanne. “They need us.”

Engelman Spruce Meadows?

It’s not hard to figure out what Pine Villas I and II were named for. But what’s going to happen to those subdivisions when 350 Post Falls fifth-graders plant the Engelman Spruce seedlings The Plant Mill just donated to schools?

The Post Falls Education Association chose the tree because it’s a Northwest native. The kids are learning about how trees benefit the environment. By the time the spruce seedlings grow enough to overshadow the pines, the subdivisions probably will be ready for new names…

Bird calls

Coeur d’Alene’s chapter of the National Audubon Society might send you to the Wind River Range in Wyoming even if you don’t know your birds.

The group has an ecology workshop scholarship available for teachers, community volunteers, leaders of youth groups, environmentalists, college students or anyone close to those categories.

Why is this worth your trouble? It’s a week of hikes, field trips, classes in geology and biological sciences as well as classes in sketching, Native American cultures, medicinal plants and activism. Oh yeah - there’s also a trip to Grand Teton National Park and a float trip down the Snake River.

Call Kris Buchler at 664-4739 for an application. They’re due Sunday.

Spring fever

The sun’s out and I’m taking off. It’s time to show Martin, the Swedish student living with the Taggarts, a good time.

While I play hookey, leave some great mail and messages for Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814; fax to 765-7149; or call 765-7128.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo