Susan Hink Dews

In the Fall of ‘71; I moved to Kansas City, MO to attend a 4 month Airline School (taught ticketing, calculation of fares, airplane types, use of teletype machine, etc.)

At the time of graduation in Feb of ‘72, airlines weren’t hiring. Reps from Federal Agencies in Washington, DC came to the school to recruit. My brother, Tom (‘69) and I were selected by the CIA, as well as 12 others. Some went with FBI. We all moved to the DC area and found apartments. Headquarters, where we worked, was in McLean, VA. I met my future husband, Jim while living in Northern Virginia. We stayed until 2/74, moved to metro Atlanta, GA and got married 3/9/74. We had one child, Laura, born in 1980.

For 29 years, we both worked at the Atlanta Veterans’ Administration Hospital. I was a pharmacy tech, then tech supervisor, then changed to Administration in the Quality Assurance Dept. I worked as a Medical Staff Coordinator for several years, then as Administrative Officer for the Dept. of Medicine at the VA. My boss was the Chief of Medicine as well as the ass’t. Dean of Medicine at Emory University (Atlanta) with which VA was affiliated. We trained their residents. After a few years in that position, I changed to a position in the Hospital Director’s office as a Patient Advocate. I retired, at age 50, in 2003, from the VA after 29 years as a civil servant (2 of them in DC).

Jim and I then moved back to Sioux Falls in 2003 so that I could help with my parents failing health. I took 1 year off from working, then started as the Medical Staff Coordinator at Select Specialty Hospital, where I worked for 10 years.

In 2013, our daughter and husband had their 1st child, so we moved back to GA to be closer to them and help out. (My dad had died in 2006 and Mom was situated in a dementia-care Nursing Home). She died 5 weeks after our return to GA. So, now we look after our 2 granddaughters who are just a block up the street. Both are in Elementary School.

Several family members got COVID last year, 2 very seriously. We were never sick. My Boxer dog of 13 years, passed away after she developed dementia and other medical problems.

So now, I spend my time by setting up Bluebird houses and supplying food during the Spring and Summer, feeding all the other local birds year round, and Hummingbirds from @April thru November all in my yard. I also started buying houseplants, now up to @ 65!

I walk, read, swim when the pool is open for the Summer as well.