Nearly 17 years ago to the day, Kelly Dawes was making her routine 80-miles-one-way drive from Northcrest Medical Center in Springfield, Tennessee, back to Trigg County.
Then a staff nurse well versed in business administration and the medical arts, she stopped in at the John L. Street Library, just as she had so many times on Monday afternoons — and rifled through the classifieds, scanning for the job she always wanted.
Finally, there it was. The local and regional health department needed help. She knew it was time to get closer to home, and pivot more into the public eye.
At 5 PM Thursday afternoon, the Madisonville Community College and Murray State University alumna clocked out of her “Certified Diabetes Educator” position for the final time — closing the door not only to her Pennyrile Health Department office in Cadiz, but on a career that’s gripped her time and attention since those first lectures under former MCC Nursing Program Coordinator Linda Thomas.
Through all of those years, Dawes said one memory sticks out most.
A typical work day, she said, often involved considerable data entry and reporting back to Frankfort, but also a frequent 130-mile round-trip trek all through the service region of Caldwell, Crittenden, Livingston, Lyon and Trigg — setting up booths and tables all over communities encouraging, emphasizing and promoting health awareness and the free diabetes classes she later taught.
And that’s not counting Ledbetter and Grand Rivers assignments, where she was responsible for sharing all the guidance and knowledge she possessed.
Dawes first began her medical journey in 1993, after working at the former Green River Appliance in Madisonville. She took her RN exam in December 1995, and a month later began her remote satellite learning before receiving her bachelor’s degree in 1999 — working at Jennie Stuart Health while pursuing it.
Reflecting on such channeled another memory for her.
She, of course, didn’t need any men hitting on her. She’d long been married to her “hubby,” Raymond, and thankfully insurance was able to replace her beloved emerald, while her grandmother shared an extra wedding band for deflection. To this day, the rings share opposite hands.
A coal-miner-turned-plumber, Raymond has been retired for nearly a decade, in 2017 — waiting for Dawes to do the same.
Retirement, however, doesn’t exactly mean slowing down for the duo. Unfortunately, their property in western Trigg County still has about 50-plus trees down following torrential May storms, which may require some logging.
But she’s also not done with education.
According to state law, those 65-and-up can pursue free college through tuition and fee waivers, following enrollment in any state-supported institution of higher learning, leaving only transportation, books and other materials as the cost.
And it means Dawes will be back in the classroom sooner, rather than later.
As part of her job the last 17 years, Dawes said she had to often write articles pertaining to health and diabetes.
This was her favorite in the series.
