Many of you will recognize Maralyn Wheeler from her many roles at PUMC; SKIP volunteer for 3 years, Thrift Shop volunteer, and the nurse who is available twice a month in the SKIP dining room.
Maralyn was born in Grimsby on the east coast of England. She moved to London at age 16 and began working at a home for neglected kids. She then went to nanny school and came to the US in 1972 where she spent a year in Greenwich, CT, and a year in DC as a nanny. The DC family was friends with Tip O'Neill, who got her a permanent visa.
Having had enough of nannying for a while, Maralyn set off and hitchhiked throughout the US for a year, doing odd jobs along the way. She picked apples in Yakima, WA, picked plums in CA, and worked in a factory in TX putting peaches onto a conveyor belt. She married briefly and lived in Wyoming, where she worked on a cattle round up. She loved the experience and living in Wyoming, but the marriage didn't last.
Maralyn got a job at a "Home for Incurables", which was elder care. She did housekeeping, worked as a nurse's aid, and got her LPN (licensed practical nurse) at that time. She moved to Ithaca NY and went back to school for her RN (registered nurse).
In 1985, she got a job at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston and worked in the burn trauma ICU for 23 years. Maralyn met her wife Amy at a Fenway Health Center dance and they have been together 25 years. Maralyn & Amy bought a house in Provincetown in 2005, and moved here full time after Maralyn retired in 2010.
Maralyn’s favorite thing ever is traveling the country in the RV she bought last year. She will soon be off on a 6 week adventure, to who knows where?
Maralyn’s take on the best part of SKIP: "You can be yourself". And Maralyn, SKIP is glad to have you just as yourself! Thank you for your service.
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