Margaret and Wayne Kruse

Margaret was 36 when she set foot on the Pasadena City College campus.  She was no stranger to education.  Just out of high school she begin her collegiate career and, at the advice of her mother, she pursued an AA degree in business from Glendale Community College.  After graduation, she worked as an Administrative Secretary at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.  During that time, Margaret met Wayne, they married and had two sons.  Margaret had an opportunity to help care for her parents, especially her ailing father, and found an unexpected new love in health care.  The medical field caught her attention and coupled with the experience of caring for her parents, Margaret returned to school to pursue a nursing certificate.  She was well aware of the challenges a returning student with a family would face, but she was up for it.  She started with the perquisites for the nursing program and in 1982 she became a nursing student.  Margaret fondly recalls her wonderful experience at PCC and credits Dr. Barbara Latham and Roberta Cole with the excellent education she received, “Dr. Latham was an outstanding teacher. She was dynamic and just made learning exciting.  Everyone was very invested and supportive”.  When she returned to PCC, her oldest son was in fifth grade and her youngest in kindergarten.  Her home life didn’t stop, she still drove carpools and took her sons to sporting events, and boy scouts.  She remembers going to baseball and soccer games and cheering on her boys with her textbooks on her lap.  She was even invited to Cub Scout meetings to teach first aid and she conducted the session in her PCC nursing uniform.  Her boys were extremely proud of her.

When Margaret graduated in 1984 it was quite challenging to get a job at any local hospital.   Some of her fellow graduates worked as non-paid interns at hospitals in the hope of obtaining a paid nursing position. Margaret felt fortunate that she had a friend from high school who set up a meeting at LA County USC and the administrators found Margaret quite skilled and knowledgeable.  They offered her a job and asked her to recruit her fellow classmates. This came as no surprise to Margaret.  She had selected PCC because of their great reputation and high pass rate on the nursing exam.  This continues to be true today.  PCC nursing students have a 99.3% passing rate on the NCLEX exam and in 2018, the PCC nursing program received recognition by the California Community College Chancellor’s Office with a “Gold Star” from the Strong Workforce Program. This recognition reflects that registered nurses graduating from the PCC program have seen a 178% increase in earnings, 86% of students attained the regional living wage and 96% of students are employed in a job similar to their field of study. 

Margaret has had a successful nursing career working at LA County USC, Doheny Eye Hospital and eventually as a consultant helping hospitals and clinics meet the requirements for accreditation and licensure.  Margaret just renewed her nursing license for another two years, allowing her to volunteer nurse and continue working as a consultant.  

Her many years of experience in the nursing field prepared her for the most difficult challenge of all, caring for her husband as he battles graft-versus-host disease subsequent to a stem cell transplant.  In 2015 Wayne was diagnosed with leukemia.   He is in remission but continues to need care. Both are extremely grateful for the nursing education Margaret received from PCC.  Margaret reflected, “he is still not well so I am his special nurse and he is so grateful.  I am able to administrator his IV when he needs it.  It is easy to do it and we do not have to wait for a home health nurse to come.  So thank you PCC”.   In 2014, Wayne and Margaret made their first donation to the PCC nursing program.  Future gifts were prompted by the excellent nursing care Wayne received at City of Hope, one of the clinical sites where Margaret studied while in the nursing program at PCC.  They are both extremely grateful for the nursing education Margaret received from PCC.  As the first generation in their families to attend college and graduate, they understand the importance of supporting those who have similar dreams but need a little assistance in getting there.  Their support has provided scholarships to 39 nursing students at Pasadena City College and the PCC Foundation is fortunate to count Wayne and Margaret as loyal donors.