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Vivian Bobo will tell you never to give up on a dream.

When she was a little girl, she read about the legendary British nurse Florence Nightingale.

"Just reading about her made me interested in becoming a nurse," she said. "I don't know why, but it's something I wanted to do."

That wish never faded away. She kept it alive while raising a family, working and going to school. Vivian finally became a registered nurse in 1981 at 49.

Her passion remains alive. Bobo, 78, works for MediNurse, a private duty agency that provides nurses for individuals.

"I still love it, although I don't do as much as I used to," the Florissant resident said. "It's wonderful to help people and see them get better. When they're up and walking that's the best feeling of all."

She doesn't let her age stop her, said Karen McKnight, RN and Director of Nursing for MediNurse.

"I think Vivian's a good nurse because she was older than the other students," McKnight said. "She knew the problems people might have. Vivian has a lot of experience and is very well-rounded."

That experience paid off several years ago when helping Florissant resident Elvita Macon, 57.

Bobo's daughter, Gwendolyn Wesley, and Macon are good friends. Macon was recuperating at home from surgery when she called Wesley and told her she didn't feel well.

Wesley sent her mother to Macon's house. Bobo saw the woman was hemorrhaging.

"She immediately got me to the emergency room at Christian Hospital," Macon said. "She stayed with me during the whole thing. I've always said that Vivian saved my life."

Bobo is proud, not only of her career, but of her constant desire to learn more. From 1999 to 2001, she took supplemental courses at Washington University. Bobo has attended the Cook County Graduate School of Medicine in Chicago and taught nursing courses at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park. She is a licensed in Illinois and Missouri.

The nurse was born in Arkansas, but moved to St. Louis after she was married. She started as a nurse's aid during the 1950s at Barnes Hospital. Then, went to school and became a practical nurse in 1966.

Bobo decided to continue for her registered nurse's degree. She had to take it 'step-by-step."
"I was the oldest woman in the class," she said.

Bobo enrolled in a program affiliated with Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. For more than two years, she went to school from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., then worked from 3 to 11 p.m. at Barnes Hospital.

Bobo did all of this while studying and raising her family.

In 1981, she passed the test and became certified as a registered nurse.

She continued working at Barnes Hospital, but took a job in 1987 with an agency called Comprehealth. It soon became MediNurse and Bobo has been with them ever since.

She works at different hospitals with different patients for different fields of medicine.

"I love the variety," she said. "I can work for two weeks, then not work for several days. I want to keep on as nurse as long as possible."

In the meantime, the single mother enjoys her four children, eight grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

"We're all proud of her," Wesley said. "The word 'can't' is not in her vocabulary."
Vivian Bobo

1932; Born in Marvell, Ark.

1951: Moved to St. Louis with husband

1953: Started as nurse's aide at Barnes Hospital

1966: Became practical nurse, worked at Barnes Hospital

1981: Became registered nurse, worked at Barnes Hospital

1987: Joined CompreHealth, which became MediNurse in 1997