When Orvan Thompson needed $6 to take the exams necessary to continue his education, his father wouldn’t help. He didn’t want Thompson to leave the family farm to go to school. But Thompson decided to find a way to make it happen anyways.
“Dad was so stingy, I needed $6 more to take the exams. They never gave me the money, and on the day of the exam I had to hitchhike 80 miles and Dad was so mad. He finally gave me the $6 and told me that was the last time he would spend any money on my education. After I took the exams, I didn’t return home,” Thompson said.
Thompson went on to complete college and became a nurse, and at 90 years old, he is the oldest member of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center staff.
Born in 1918 on a wheat and cattle ranch in Canada, Thompson recalled countless days of hard work with his two brothers and three sisters. Even from a young age, he said he understood the importance of “hard work, dependability and being on time,” three crucial qualities that he said every nurse or sitter should embody.
Thompson said he remembers his first encounter with nursing occurred in his third year of high school.
“Toward the middle of the year, a registered nurse joined the faculty and she taught subjects like home nursing, home aid and anatomy. I took extra subjects with her and got enough credits to graduate in three years.” Although he did not graduate high school, Thompson earned enough credits in time to take the Canadian Provincial exams, a test similar to the U.S. GED test.
After completing the exams, Thompson began working for a lumber truck company in West Edmonson. At the lumberyard he found an ad for Madison College in Reader’s Digest magazines, applied and was accepted. Located just a few minutes from Nashville, Madison College focuses on degrees in industry, teaching, health care and agriculture.
College not only prepared Thompson for his nursing career, but also led him to meet his classmate and future wife, Evelyn. However, before their wedding in 1943, Thompson was drafted into the army in the summer of 1942.
“The Army grabbed me right after schooling and I spent three or four years serving as a medic. I wasn’t overseas, but was stationed all over the U.S. Having a couple years of nursing training, they put me right to work. It was good service and I enjoyed it.”
After finishing his duties with the Army, Thompson and his wife had four children. Thompson decided to put his nursing career on hold and began working for a photographer. It wasn’t until after his children finished their schooling that he returned to the nursing and home care world. In 1991 Thompson joined the Vanderbilt University Medical Center team.
At VUMC, Thompson works two to four days a week for eight-hour shifts with people who have a variety of illnesses.
“I’ve been with children, people in car wrecks, suicidal patients, you name it. I mostly just keep them company and try to help those who are confused and scared. You meet all types of people here and you never know what you’re getting into.”
While his future career plans at VUMC are still unclear, it is only a short half-month until Thompson’s 91st birthday blowout in November.
“My wife wants me to quit because my birthday is coming soon. So I’m not going to work too much longer, but it’s something to do and it keeps me busy,” he said.
