Peggy Lemon is a lucky woman. Early on, she found out both the kind of work she wanted to do and the person she wanted to go through life with.
When Lemon was a little girl and people asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up, she would say, "Nurse."
"I always wanted to be a nurse," Lemon said. "I really did."
Lots of other little girls say that, too. But, in Lemon's case, nothing else ever supplanted that desire. After she graduated from high school in 1958, she went into a three-year nursing program and became an RN. She spent a couple of years as a hospital nurse before becoming a nurse at the Forsyth County Department of Public Health in 1963. There she stayed for more than 45 years, retiring earlier this month as the director of public-health nursing.
Lemon has been with her husband, Merle, even longer.
"We grew up together -- we went to church together," she said. "He was a Boy Scout and our first date was a hayride with the Boy Scouts. We were probably 15."
They have been together ever since.
"He was just a good guy and still is," she said. "He has been a wonderful husband and excellent father, and the grandchildren love him to death."
Married in 1960
The Lemons grew up in Asheboro. After graduating from high school, Lemon headed to Winston-Salem for the nursing program at what is now Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. The Lemons married in 1960 while she was still in nursing school, and she put off the first offer from the health department because she was pregnant with the first of their two children. Now 68, she could have retired earlier but kept working because she continued to enjoy going in each day.
Lemon -- who reported to Dr. Tim Monroe, the county health director -- supervised 96 people, 68 of whom were nurses. Looking back, her only regret -- and a mild one it is -- is that she didn't put off going into supervising a little longer so that she could have spent more years out in the field.
Sandra Clodfelter, who supervises the school-health program, said that Lemon was wonderful to work with. Clodfelter particularly appreciated Lemon's compassion, the trust Lemon had in those who worked for her and her breadth of knowledge. It didn't matter whether something happened yesterday or 15 years ago, Lemon seemed to have full access to the pertinent information.
"She is a wealth of knowledge," Clodfelter said. "She always knew the answer. She didn't even have to look it up. She had all this history in her head."
A mentor and a friend
Lemon's administrative assistant, Tamra Smithson, came to think of Lemon not only as her boss but also as a mentor and a friend.
"She is one of the most caring, compassionate and patient people I know," Smithson said. "She was always fair and a highly regarded professional."
Since retiring, Lemon has been keeping her calendar clear. Once she's ready to jump back in, she doesn't expect to have any trouble becoming fully booked. Over the years, she has worked with such organizations as the Shepherd's Center of Greater Winston-Salem and Senior Services that offer lots of opportunities for volunteering, and the people at the Lemons' church -- Konnoak Hills Moravian -- also have thoughts about productive ways she might use her time.
Lemon is a big booster for public-health nursing, which falls into three main categories -- schools, maternal health and child health. Although public-health nursing is not for everyone, she said, for the right person, it offers a lot, including regular hours and longer-term connections with those you help than some other nursing jobs, as well as more independence.
"It's a very independent practice as far as nursing is concerned," Lemon said. "I think it's a wonderful profession."
■ Kim Underwood can be reached at 727-7389 or at kunderwood@wsjournal.com.
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