All About
Charlene. Charlene the youngest child of Charlotte and Frank
Sickinger was born February 29, 1936. Yes, a leap year baby.
Her birth certificate reads Charlotte, yet her name was
changed at Baptism to Charlene. She enjoyed all the fuss she
got for being the baby of the family as well as the
attention she got for having red hair and freckles. She
always liked to tag along with her older sister who always
seemed to have interesting activities. Her sister considered
her a pest.
As a
little girl she had a memory of a fun loving brother who was
very attractive and kind to her. The fact was she had two
older half-brothers who lived with them for several years.
The older brother contracted TB and was hospitalized. He
died at 18 years of age. The younger brother returned to
the custody of his mother when she remarried and never had
contact with his father’s family again.
Growing
up, she tended to always have a “best friend” and even today
continues with this pattern. She attended St. Madeleine
Sophie Elementary and remembers her early struggles with
math and being reminded by her parents of her sister’s good
grades. She went to an all girls high school, which was just
fine with her, as she felt awkward and shy around boys. She
kept busy in high school with her studies and being in the
school’s band and orchestra. Many years of piano lessons
earned her the tuba player seat - a unique but strange
instrument for a girl. It was during her sophomore year
that her science teacher, Sister Augustine (Sister of Mercy)
stirred her interest in nursing as a career. After
graduation from Little Flower in 1953, she attended
Fitzgerald Mercy Hospital School of Nursing Darby, PA. She
felt grounded and happy in nursing school and graduated in
1956,
Public
Health Nursing became her special field having worked for
Germantown Visiting Nurses, Nassau County Health Department,
Long Branch Public Health and Mon mouth County TB Control.
Always in pursuit of a degree, she attended night school at
various local colleges. It was a long trek but she
eventually earned a BA in Education from Georgian Court
College. Her diploma reads “Cum Laude”. After finishing her
degree in nursing she found that teaching jobs were tight
and was encouraged to look into school nursing. For her,
that was the perfect fit. Working as a school nurse enabled
her to stay with her first love, nursing as wells to provide
her with an opportunity to teach. She retired in 1998 and
continues to keep her hand in nursing working as a school
nurse substitute.
It was
accidental circumstances that reunited the family with my
half-brother, Bob. We will never forget that day that he
came to our home. He looked walked and talked just like our
father had. When he was told that the only memory was of his
older brother, the one who gave so much attention, he
responded that it was not Francis that was remembered, but
Bob. He has become our older brother: a generous, thoughtful
and loving man.
Prepared In 2004 Charlene’s sister Patricia Sickinger
Snyder.
