College of Nursing Honors Family With Seven Alumnae

It’s hard to imagine a family with closer ties to Northwestern State University than the Pittman family of Dubberly. Ten of the 16 children of Steve Edward and Clotile Pittman attended Northwestern and seven earned nursing degrees over a period of 22 years.

Northwestern’s College of Nursing honored the Pittmans by establishing the Pittman Hall of Tradition in the Nursing Education Center. The recognition was at a ceremony for the College of Nursing’s 60th anniversary and Northwestern’s 125th anniversary. The display has photos of Thelma Pittman Walker, Victoria Pittman Kennedy, Karon Pittman Hanushek, Michelle Pittman, Julia Pittman Baldwin and the late Juanita Pittman Strickland and Shirley Pittman Smiley.

“When you look at the Pittman family and see what they did, you have to be in awe,” said Northwestern State President Dr. Randall J. Webb. "They knew the importance of education and wanted their children to get a good, quality education. We are grateful for their sacrifice.”

Three other sisters, Mary Pittman Morrison, Frances Pittman Jones and Lynn Pittman Cooley, also earned degrees at NSU.

“It was important to our mother and father that we get an education,” said Michelle Pittman, who is now a surgeon in Shreveport. “My parents were intelligent, well-read people who never had a chance to go to college. They wanted us to get college degrees and saw that we did. Many of us were also able to get postgraduate degrees. ”

Michelle Pittman was the 15th of 16 children in the family and found out how important it was to her family that she attend Northwestern.

“I had planned to go to Northeast (Louisiana University) with a friend and was working a summer job at McDonald’s,” said Michelle Pittman. “One day, I got a call at work from Dr. Rene Bienvenu, who was president at the time. He talked to me about going to Northwestern, and my mother took me down there that day to get registered.”

The College of Nursing also recognized Gloria Morris and Louise Sudbury, who were part of Northwestern’s first class of baccalaureate students in nursing in 1949.

“I always wanted to be a nurse,” said Sudbury, who now lives on Toledo Bend after a long nursing career in the New Orleans area. “I had a Sunday School teacher who was a director of nursing and she got me a scholarship. I enjoyed Northwestern. I had a lot of fun.”

Morris, who now lives in Nederland, Texas, remembers living in Agnes Morris and Carondelet Halls on campus.

“We all lived together and had classes together, so I really got to know the other nursing students,” said Morris. “I definitely feel my education at Northwestern prepared me well for a nursing career.”