Photo submitted to Times Observer Hanna Ketzko has been awarded a Mary Edwards Conarro Nursing Scholarship. Pictured, from left, are, Community Foundation of Warren County Executive Director Robert Kaemmerer, Ketzko, Conarro, and Venango Technology Center Practical Nursing Coordinator Dr. Cindy Cornelius.

A family tradition of nursing that is four generations deep is gaining breadth by helping others move forward in the same vocation.

Hanna Ketzko was awarded a Mary Edwards Conarro Nursing Scholarship to finish her final semester at the Venango Technology Center registered nursing program through Warren-Forest Higher Education Council.

“A burning desire for helping others through healthcare and volunteerism has given birth to an enduring legacy of scholarship gifts to area nurses — thanks to Mary Edwards Conarro,” the Community Foundation of Warren County said in a news release. “Mary’s passion for nursing extends across four generations in her family. Starting with her mother, Letitia Rooney Edwards; Mary herself; Mary’s daughter, Mary Ann Conarro Carlson; and now Mary’s granddaughters, Morgan and Alexandria Conarro, all have been nurses.”

“In 2019, Mary decided that she wanted to create her own legacy of philanthropy by establishing the Mary Edwards Conarro Endowed Nursing Scholarship,” according to the release. “This fund is at the Community Foundation of Warren County, and Mary has her own selection committee that chooses the recipients of the annual awards.

The hope is that the scholarship will encourage local students to train locally to work in the community.

“Recognizing the shortage of nurses due to burnout caused by the pandemic in 2021 and 2022, Mary’s scholarship will support the growing need for training nurses locally to work in our Warren County community,” according to the Community Foundation. “Mary’s desire is to foster continuing education to encourage students to be licensed at the level of a Registered Nurse (RN), and along the way she is open to offering that support to our local Warren-Forest Hi-Ed one-year program provided by Venango Technology Center, two-year programs, or four-year programs. Mary’s scholarship supports both traditional and non-traditional means of education.”

“After meeting with (Warren General Hospital Chief Nursing Officer) Joe Akif, Mary discovered that starting salaries for nurses in our small town are as high as $62,000 annually, so Mary considers that an incredible return on her investment if the students she helps stay in Warren County after they receive their degrees,” the Community Foundation said.

Conarro was inspired, in very different ways, to pursue nursing by both of her parents.

Letitia Edwards “decided to become a nurse, graduated with a degree in nursing from Brooklyn Hospital and began her nursing career caring for her cancer patient, John Edwards, in his home,” according to the release. “While tending to Mr. Edwards, Letitia met his brother, Clarence, fell in love, married him, and they became the proud parents of Mary. After starting her family, Letitia gave up her nursing career and instead began volunteering in the healthcare field to help those in need.”

Conarro’s father suffered a serious injury while she was a child and, seeking the care he needed, was taken from their home in Hempstead, Long Island, to St. Luke’s Hospital in New York City.

“Also, Mary had a friend whose mom was a nurse,” according to the release. “These impacted Mary in such a way that it derailed her original dream of attending the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn for a degree in Fashion Design. Instead, she enrolled in a three-year nursing program at St. Luke’s, graduating in 1954 at age 20 with her degree. Her dad had paid the grand sum of $500 for all three years.”

Conarro’s daughter carried on the tradition, though she started out in a different direction.

“After a teaching career of 22 years, Mary Ann Conarro Carlson, received her nursing degree as a non-traditional student at age 46,” according to the release. “Mary Ann is currently employed at a wound care clinic in Richmond, VA.

The fourth generation is now in the field.

“Morgan and Alexandria Conarro, Mary’s granddaughters, both with Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees (BSN), currently are at Boston Children’s Hospital, which in 2021, was recognized by U. S. News and World Report as the best pediatric hospital in the nation for the eighth consecutive year,” the release said.

“Similar to her mother, Mary Ethel Edwards began her career as a nurse working at St. Luke’s for a year and then decided she wanted to go into teaching Public Health back in Hempstead County,” according to the release. “It was there that she met her husband-to-be, Hal Conarro, during a bridge game. Shortly afterward, they married and moved to Hal’s hometown of Warren, PA, where she went to work at Warren General Hospital.”

She started her family and gave up her nursing career, like her mother.

Since, she has given of her time and dedication to numerous organizations.

“Mary never forgot her parents’ motto of ‘Leave your country better than you found it,'” according to the release.

Mary’s husband, Hal, and his lifelong friend and fellow Dartmouth grad, Bob Sokolski, were entrepreneurs and started their own wildly successful business, Whirley Industries, in 1970. Both of them are revered in Warren for their legendary philanthropy and that rubbed off on both of their wives, Mary and Sally.

“Mary’s legacy will now live in perpetuity,” according to the release. “There is no better way to leave a gift to her community than this. She hopes her story will encourage others to define their own personal legacies so as to enhance and sustain the quality of life in Warren County.”