Established by her daughters, Estella Bowman, RN truly embodied a nurse of the highest order of excellence and served with humility and humbleness. As shared by a DRH nurse, “I was enthralled at seeing her in a starched white uniform and commanding blue nurse’s cape and cap.”
Estella became an RN in 1941 and joined the Army Nurse Corp. Her army training began at Sheppard Field, Texas, where she met her future husband. She was stationed in England and France. After marriage and taking care of her two daughters, she returned to nursing full time in 1973 where she served until her retirement in 1991, at the age of 71. She returned to Duncan Regional Hospital as a volunteer twice a week in the Ambulatory Care Unit and at the DRH Learning Center.
Estella received many awards and honors, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from Duncan Regional Hospital, "Nurse Emeritus," award, Founder's Day Queen, and the DAR Community Service Award. For her service to our country, Estella was chosen to go to Washington D.C. on Oklahoma's Honor Flight in September of 2015.
