Ashe County

County History: 
Ashe
Region: 
Western
Quick Facts
People and Biographies
Notable individuals from nursing history.
  • Virginia Yearick Card (1940s): Nurse from the Helton community, was a US Army Major in the Army Nurse Corps and served in WWII.
  • Janet Garvey (1962- ): Operation Desert Storm nurse, born in Ashe county.
  • Mary May Wilcox Iles (1925-2017): Nurse and community health care volunteer in Ashe county.
  • Nancy Kautz (1944- ): Community Outreach nurse at Ashe County Memorial Hospital, Jefferson, NC.
Special Topics
Special topics and events from the county's nursing history.
  • Blizzard of 1960: Operation Snowbound
    • Ingram, M.R. (June, 1960). Operation snowbound. Tar Heel Nurse. This article describes providing care to citizens during a blizzard in 1960.
  • Mentions of nursing history from Ashe County Heritage Volume 1
    • In 1958 there were 5 midwife assisted births in the county.
    • Mrs. Kate Duncan and Miss Virginia Ashley were nurses in Ashe County in the 1940s.
    • When Ashe Memorial Hospital opened "an appeal to the public went out and community vied with community in collecting canned goods and other food supplies for the hospital."
    • The Ashe County Health Department formed in 1938 as part of the Appalachian Health District which also included Watauga and Alleghany Counties.  In the 1960s, Mrs. Carrie McNeill and Miss Virginia Adderton were the public health nurses and Mrs. Margaret Bowers was the school nurse.
Compiled by: 
Phoebe Pollitt