OREGON –– Serenity Hospice and Home reluctantly announces the retirement of Peggy Richard, who has been with the organization for 19 years.
Richard has spent her entire 45-year nursing career in Northern Illinois working in many different capacities including home health, oncology, acute care, hospice and management positions.  
“Nursing has allowed me to pursue many different interests,” said Richard. “In the 1970’s, girls graduating from high school had three main options: teaching, secretary work and nursing.  As someone interested in science and working with people, nursing seemed a natural choice for me.”
Richard first earned her LPN from Sauk Valley Community College and began working for KSB Hospital in Dixon. Some medical experiences with family members led her to want to pursue a position in the cardiology department, but she was told that her LPN was not enough and this convinced her to earn her RN degree in 1978 from Highland Community College.

“I have really enjoyed working with such a variety of people and circumstances during my career,” said Richard, who once had a patient awaken from a five-month coma. “You don’t work in the medical field for long without having many different stories and experiences. The interaction with the patients and families were the special part that I really enjoyed.”  
Her favorite area of health care was home health where she enjoyed the satisfaction of helping patients get back into their homes. She has spent the last 19 years with Serenity Hospice and Home.  
“I tell nursing students that come for a tour of our hospice home that sometimes there are worse things than death,” said Richard, who has taught the hospice philosophy to many volunteers and nursing students in her most recent role as Education Coordinator and Compliance Manager with Serenity. “Hospice is about living and making sure that a person’s last journey is a peaceful one.  Hospice is also for a dying person’s family and ensures that they have the resources to take care of their loved one and the access to bereavement services to help after the death.”
RIchard and her husband of 45 years, John, also have a passion for dog breeding and showing.
“I was involved in pet therapy back in the 1980’s before it had a name,” said Richard, who took her dogs to visit patients on a regular basis.  
She once had a home health patient who also shared her love of dogs.  
“I was at my competition showing the dog and there in the crowd was my home-bound patient,” laughs Richard. “The point of home health is that the person is homebound and does not leave the home. But she just said she had to see me perform at the competition!”   
Peggy, will be honored at a reception on Jan. 26 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at The Cork and Tap located at 305 W. Washington in downtown Oregon. Cards may be sent c/o Serenity Hospice & Home, PO Box 462, Oregon, IL  61061.