Point Road Nurse Hanging Up Her Stethoscope
Joyce Keller is retiring after serving as chief boo boo inspector and lost-tooth catcher for 22 years.
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Joyce Keller says that while lots of things have changed since she began doling out Band-Aids and hugs as Point Road School’s nurse 22 years ago – like an increase in students’ medical challenges and paperwork – some things remain the same.
“The people in this building are just exceptional,” Keller, whose last day before retirement is Friday, says of her coworkers. “They’re all so helpful and supportive – there’s no competition.”
“I’ll miss the kids and people I work with equally,” she says. “I love the little kids, it’s like working with my grandchildren all day.”
What won’t she miss?
“Lice,” Keller, 61, laughs, “I won’t miss that.”
Keller says the worst outbreak she experienced since she started at Point Road in September 1990 was about five years ago when about 97 students in the second grade were afflicted.
She also won’t miss all of the meetings and paperwork required of the job. “I’d rather just do kids all the time.”
Keller started her career as an operating room nurse and says she was surprised to find how much she loved working with little children.
“There’s just such an innocence about them,” she says, recalling how one little one was worried when he arrived at her office for routine hearing and vision testing that she was going to give him a shot.
Keller, who downsized not long ago to a new house in Shark River Hills, will join her husband of 41 years in retirement and the two are planning to head south to spend time at their place in Naples, FL.
“Just like the old people do,” she jokes. There, she’ll be able to walk the beach the way she says she loves to do every day in the summer in Avon. She’ll also have more time to spend with her two grown children and five grandchildren.
She says she found her way to Point Road through fellow Ocean Township resident, and former Markham Place School principal, Don Merce. She was working as the nurse at Ocean Township High School when he called to see if she’d be interested in working in Little Silver with the elementary school children. She wasn’t sure at first about working with little kids, “But I found out I really liked it a lot.”
Keller says her best advice for Gail Hall, who will become Point Road’s new school nurse this winter, is to get to know all of the students and be patient. “It’s a job you have to grow into,” she says. “You’ve got to know all of the kids you need to pay close attention to.”
Anything else?
“It’s a fun job,” Keller says.
See Ted Run !
5:38 am on Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Thanks for being a wonderful Chief Boo Boo Inspector to my two girls ! You have been truly wonderful and we will miss you ! Enjoy your retirement to the fullest !
Annie Swartz
6:59 am on Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Congratulations Joyce! Enjoy your retirement!! You will surely be missed. Thank you for years of great care!
Gerri Daneman
7:18 am on Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Joyce!
The kindness you showed my daughter Lilly during her illness will never be forgotten. You are not just an exceptional nurse but a lady with a giant heart!
Be well and enjoy..
Blessings..
Gerri Daneman
L S Resident
7:58 am on Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Happy retirement Joyce!! Rachael and I will miss you!! Xox Carmen
Jodie OConnor
8:10 am on Wednesday, December 19, 2012
A big congrats to you! Thanks for treating our kiddos so wonderfully. You are a class act and will truly be missed by students and parents alike. Enjoy the holidays, your retirement, and all great things coming your way. Thank you! Jodie O'Connor (Paige n Quinn's mom).
Michele Hickey
8:13 am on Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Congratulations, Joyce, and many happy years ahead! My youngest is almost 7 years out of PRS, but we never forget all the great people there--like you! Thanks, all the Hickeys
Debra Bowler
8:48 am on Wednesday, December 19, 2012
congratulations joyce! i know the little silver community will miss you, as will I! enjoy your retirement and your family. best wishes. love debbie bowler
Pat Shapiro
10:47 am on Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Thanks for taking such good care of my grandchildren - See you at the Food Pantry!!! Enjoy retirement!
Susan Murray
11:28 am on Wednesday, December 19, 2012
You will be sorely missed! We are lucky that our kids had you to tend to them for all these years- great job!! Congrats.
Little Silver Resident
6:17 pm on Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Enjoy your retirement Joyce! Job well done. Thanks for taking such good care of my kiddos...all 5 of them :-)
Karen Scharmann
Ueli H. Burkart
10:08 am on Thursday, December 20, 2012
Congratulation joyce, I wish you all the best for the next 61 years and hope to see yoo soon.
Ueli from the real Swiss mountains
Amy Byrnes
12:36 pm on Thursday, December 20, 2012
'Tis fitting that my little guy was one of Mrs. Keller's last patients as her days at Point Road wind down. Many thanks for taking such good care of my kiddies all these years and wishing you lots of sand between your toes all year long. Enjoy ...
Lauren Henning
1:47 pm on Friday, December 21, 2012
I still remember the great care you took of my kids, now 18 & 20. Jack was a frequent visitor to your office. Do you remember the time he went to see you because hhis knee was itchy? And you made it all better! Thank you for being the guardian angel!
Joyce Keller
10:23 pm on Friday, December 21, 2012
Thank you all for your wishes. I remember all of your kids even though they left Point Road School years ago. I will miss the kids the most. They made me smile everyday. Today was a bittersweet day saying goodbye. But I am looking forward to new adventures and more time. Thanks again to all of you for taking the time to comment. It means a lot!