When Marianne Dooley was a schoolgirl at Maitland's Monte Pio, she'd walk past the nearby Maitland Hospital looking longingly up at the building.
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"It's all I ever dreamed about," she said.
"That's what I wanted to do when I left school, to be a nurse."
On Sunday, August 22, she clocked off for her last shift at Maitland Hospital - after 58 years of nursing service.
Born Marianne Wowk to Ukrainian parents Ivan and Maria, Mrs Dooley grew up at Greta. The family first lived at the Greta migrant camp when they came to Australia from Germany when she was a toddler.
She went to primary school at St Catherine's in Greta before high school at Monte Pio and then worked as a ward cadet at the hospital.
"I've always wanted to be a nurse," said Mrs Dooley, whose two sisters Olga and Soph also became nurses.
She trained in Maitland, finishing in 1968, before moving down to Melbourne as a Registered Nurse to study midwifery. She then worked at the Queen Victoria Hospital in Lonsdale Street for two years.
She still keeps in touch with most of the girls she trained with but Covid has scuttled their annual reunions for the past two years.
When she returned to Maitland, she worked as a nurse in charge and in the wards at Maitland Hospital before deciding the operating theatre was where she wanted to be.
Back in Maitland she also married the young man she had met at a ball years before, Chris Dooley. The couple who have been married for 50 years have three sons - Patrick, Damien and Geread.
Both the Dooleys are involved with the Gresford Catholic parish. Mr Dooley was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2019 Australia Day Honours.
Talking to Australian Community Media before her last shift she said it felt "surreal" to be retiring.
"It's very sad, it's surreal really," she said.
"To think after all this time my journey has come to an end. I've loved looking after people with a holistic approach to patient care. I've had a lot of satisfaction.
"It's been a beautiful journey. It really has."
She said there were many tears and many hugs for her Covid-safe celebration her colleagues gave her at the hospital in the last week.
"I'm humbled by the acknowledgement. It means a lot to me.
In the operating theatre you are the patient's advocate, you give them 100 per cent of your attention and care
- Marianne Dooley
"It took me a long time to make the decision to retire but now that I have I'm looking forward to it."
A Clinical Nurse Specialist, Mrs Dooley, who has worked under her maiden name of Wowk, said her favourite period of nursing has been the 36 years in the operating suites at Maitland Hospital.
"In the operating theatre you are the patient's advocate, you give them 100 per cent of your attention and care until they come out of theatre and go into recovery and then back onto the ward."
She said the introduction of new technology has been the biggest change to her vocation.
"There's been in the introduction of endoscopic and laproscopic surgery and all the orthapaedics. They are doing so much more with new technology such as joint replacements. That's all something we have had to learn as we progressed over the years."
Relieving Nurse Unit Manager Fiona Edmonds who has worked with Mrs Dooley for the past 26 years described her as a beautiful human with a lot of wisdom.
"She's such a generous and caring person, she has a very strong faith and great integrity. She is just a very special person," she said.
"Mary's commitment and dedication to her workplace and to perioperative nursing has been inspirational to many nursing colleagues and staff over many years.
"She has been a highly respected and valued member of staff from both the nursing and medical fraternities."
Damien Dooley remembers his mother working many nightshifts and being on call.
"Dad was always somewhat concerned when she'd have to drive into Maitland from Vacy after getting a call on the home phone in the middle of the night when she had to go in for an emergency operation," he said.
"Very often she'd come home and then have to go back again over the course of the night."
With their father working seven days on the farm the boys remain proud of their mother's career. Mrs Dooley considers herself fortunate to have had the support of her husband.
"Without his support I don't think I would have achieved what I did in nursing," she said which included winning a state nursing quest.
The couple still run cattle on their property and plan to travel Australia, particularly Tasmania and rural areas, when the Covid restrictions lift.
"While ever we are well enough we hope to take our time and travel and enjoy our family."
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