Cresson TB Sanatorium Remembered
Helen Jones

The following story and photos were sent to me in December 2010 by Helen Jones.  She can be contacted by sending email to her daughter at  fieldbaren@comcast.net  

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Hi Chuck,

My name is Helen Jones, R.N.  I worked at the San from 1950 until 1962.  I was in charge of what was then Unit 3 which was detached from the main building and also worked in the surgery wing.  At one time the second floor of Unit 3 was a locked ward for state prisoners who had contracted TB and were sent to Cresson for treatment.   I was supervisor in both of these departments.  Miss McHale was Director of Nurses part of the time.  I remember Fred Jenna and Bob Stanglen, who were  LPNs but I understand were previously patients.  Leonard Chnapko (?) was a patient and Leslie Thomas was an orderly.  Miss Emma Tiley and Mrs. Frye were LPNs.  Dr. Weest was Medical Director.

I would like more information about the reunion this summer. 

Helen Jones

 

 
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1.   Photos 1 & 2 show Helen working at her desk.
 
 
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3.   Helen out on the floor.
 
 
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5.  Helen on the left with a group of nurses on the front steps of Unit 3 in August 1960.
 
 
 
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7.  Many times Helen and her husband Keller would invite a few of the patients to their home for an evening of playing cards and conversation, such as at this Christmas party in 1955.  That's Helen at front row left and Keller at back row right.
 
 
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9.  Keller loved to play cards and was a good host.  Left to Right:  Keller, Leonard Chnapko,  Leslie Thomas, Unknown, Unknown
 
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11.  The Nurse's Gaduation Class of 1951.  They are posed on the steps of the Administration Building. 


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13.  Dr. Weest wrote the above letter of recommendation for Helen when she left the san in 1962 after12 years as a nurse.  She showed the letter to a private MD in her local town and worked for 21 years in his office until she was 65 and decided to retire. 
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2.  Photos 1 through 4 were taken in 1953.
 
 
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4.  Assisting a patient.
 
 
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6.  Trees at the san entrance with limbs drooping under the weight of ice after a typical harsh winter storm in January 1953.
 
 
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8.  As the decorated tree indicates, Keller, on the right, is sharing some Christmas cheer with a guest.
 
 
 
 
 
 
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10.  Keller and Helen lived on a farm in Ebensburg.  Leslie Thomas, an 18 year old san orderly, lived with them for about a year.  Here he's posing in front of their barn with a buck he bagged. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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12.  The Nurse's Graduation Class of 1952 in a photo taken on September 22, probably in the Entertainment Hall.  Helen Jones is in the third row on the end.