In the summer of 1976, a 17-year old Mae Bacon not yet out of high school was encouraged by Martha Walker to fib about her age, and continue her candy-striping volunteer nursing efforts at Trigg County Hospital.
Friday night at the Lexie Bush Convention Center, she was stunned by a welcome surprise — when more than 150 friends, co-workers and family members met in secret for her retirement party, celebrating 47-plus years served at her hometown triage.
Between those bookmarks, she said, are blessed chapters:
— A family of 12 with six brothers and six sisters;
— An 82-year-old mother, Dorothy Jean Jones Bacon, who died in 2022 following a career in civil service at Fort Campbell, and as a faithful member of Rocky Ridge Baptist Church;
— More than 20 years worked as a nurse at Cumberland Hall in Hopkinsville, all while employed with Trigg County Hospital;
— A two-year education at Hopkinsville Community College and Madisonville Community College, where she moved from CNA, to LPN and finally to RN;
— Her feet “done twice,” in order to keep her career on track;
— And too many good memories to count.
Retirement, she added, is wide open, with opportunity abound.
And the party was just one half of the astonishment.
Cadiz Mayor Todd King stopped by to give Bacon and her two best friends, Marguerite Wharton and Virginia Hudson, Keys to the City — following their combined 136 years of labor with Trigg County Hospital. Wharton and Hudson retired earlier this year.
One of Bacon’s sisters, Amanda Milstead, played a key role in planning the surprise party.
Fredia Smiley, Trigg County Hospital’s chief nursing officer, said Bacon’s comforting laugh will be just one of the many irreplaceable skills that will be missed among the halls.
Smiley added that just in the last few months, Bacon has been a staff nurse, a charge nurse, and was a strong weekend option for the crew. In her earlier years, she was a cohort in ambulance runs and worked in the emergency room.
Bacon had a small retirement party earlier Friday on the hospital’s campus.
