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Sparrow nurses close 95 years of nostalgia with final reunion

Bonnie Clark photo
Kevin Lavery
/
WKAR
Bonnie Clark is a 1960 graduate of the E.W. Sparrow School of Nursing. Her nursing career spanned 48 years.

For six decades, Lansing’s Sparrow Hospital ran a nursing school near its main campus on Michigan Avenue. For the past 95 years, the alumni of that school have held a reunion. Tomorrow, that legacy comes to an end. Current State’s Kevin Lavery talks with a retired registered nurse from the Sparrow Nursing School Class of 1960.

Yesterday was International Nurses Day. The event is held every year on May 12 to honor the birthday of Florence Nightingale the “founding mother” of modern nursing.

As we close out National Nurses Week, one group of Lansing-area nurses is marking a bittersweet occasion. For the past 95 years, alumni from the E.W. Sparrow School of Nursing have held a reunion to reflect on old times. But this weekend's will be their last.

The Sparrow School of Nursing opened in 1901 on Michigan Avenue in Lansing, and trained mostly women on site for 60 years.

Current State’s Kevin Lavery talks with one of the last nurses to go through the program. Bonnie Clark is from the Sparrow Class of 1960, the year before the school closed.

Kevin Lavery served as a general assignment reporter and occasional local host for Morning Edition and All Things Considered before retiring in 2023.
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