Angels of Westmoreland Honor Guard

06/15/2026

Betty Boggio was the youngest of her siblings. Growing up on a farm with no electric or running water, she would say that she never knew that she was poor during her childhood. She graduated from Youngwood High School and while she was a student there, she and a friend became interested in the Cadet Nurse Program that was affiliated with the Westmoreland Hospital School of Nursing after listening to a talk in one of their classes. The Cadet Program was a government sponsored program that would pay for nursing school for an interested student that could pass the entrance exam. As a way of paying back for the education, they would be required to work wherever they were needed during the war. Betty and her friend both passed the exam and were accepted into the program but then shortly after, the war ended but the government followed through with the promise of a nursing education. She graduated in 1948 from the Westmoreland School of Nursing.
During her studies at the hospital, she was taking care of a patient who happened to be a roommate of her future husband, Michael. They developed a friendship that eventually found them married and having two sons. After graduation she taught at the nursing school and attended the University of Pittsburgh to obtain her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing. She took a short hiatus to start her family and then her husband became ill. She was his caretaker for ten years while raising their two sons and worked part time at the nursing school to support her family. Her humble beginnings and her work ethic and compassion kept her moving forward. She was a young widow at the age of forty-seven when Michael passed. Her niece, Lee Anna says that he was always supportive and encouraged Betty to continue her education and career. She received her Master’s Degree in Social Services from Duquesne University in her mid-fifties.
Betty’s entire career was within the walls of Westmoreland Hospital. Thirty-five years of dedicated service in the School of Nursing, the Nursing Department and finished her career as Director of Social Services.
She was a long-time member of the Westmoreland Area Nursing Association and was active up until less than a year ago. Betty was also a member of the ECHOES (retired Westmoreland Hospital Employees) and was helpful with the yearly reunion, arranging table seating charts, sometimes for up to 240 attendees). Her love to stay connected and busy was evident. She was an avid golfer, Bridge player and bowler. In March of this year, a mere three months ago, Betty bowled a 143!
Betty was a perfectionist, always striving for excellence and was not intimidated by anyone when standing up for what was right and fair. Betty will be missed by her family, her friends and the many co-workers and peers that she met along the way.

05/28/2026

Margaret R. Krystyniak passed away just shy of her 104th birthday at her home. She was lovingly cared for by her daughter, Patricia.
Margie graduated from Ducktown High School in 1941. She was the first in her family to graduate high school. She applied for a nursing school scholarship at the encouragement of one of her high school teachers via the Presbyterian Church. She was disappointed when she did not receive it. But as luck would have it, the recipient became ill with tuberculosis and the scholarship was awarded to Margie. Margie believes that a guardian angel kept watch over her then and continues today. She entered the Baroness-Erlanger School of Nursing in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her mother was hesitant for her to leave because she needed help at home, but Margie felt this is what she needed to do to help the family. She graduated from nursing school in 1944 and later worked in the Veteran’s Administration in Johnson City, Tennessee.
Margie entered the U.S. Army Nurse Corp. as a second Lieutenant and did her basic training at Fort Rucker in Alabama. She genuinely enjoyed the camaraderie with the other nurses. They were so remarkably close and true friendships were formed for a lifetime. In fact, she even named her daughter Patricia after two of those friends.
After Fort Rucker, she left for Camp Butner in Durham, NC. World War II was raging in Europe. Camp Butner received some of the injured soldiers specifically the ones from the Battle of the Bulge. One of those young soldiers was Corporal John P. Krystyniak from Quarry Street in Mt. Pleasant. As fate would have it, Margie cared for John at the hospital, and they fell in love. She married John on August 16, 1947, in Transfiguration Church in Mt. Pleasant.
After the military, John and Margaret settled in Mt. Pleasant. John opened the Red and White Supermarket. Margaret was a stay-at-home mom raising five children and helping at the store when she could. As her children grew older, Margaret realized she needed more in her life. She decided it was time to give back to her church and her community. Because of the love she had for people, she joined as many organizations as she could and volunteered her time serving at the Frick Community Hospital, St. Raymond’s parish council, Christian Mothers, Barones-Erlanger Nurses’ Alumna, PTG, Clelian Heights, Saturday Afternoon Club, Mt. Pleasant American Legion Auxiliary, Donegal American Legion, and the Frick Retired Nurses. Her faith in God and her guardian angel have given her an upbeat attitude.
Patricia remembers her mother as being loving and devoted to those things that she felt were important: family, Church and Community. She was an important role model to her as she went on to nursing school and recalls always seeing the American Journal of Nursing magazines around the house. Her mother was the neighborhood and family nurse and consultant.
Margaret will be remembered by those who loved and knew her by her trademark phrase, “Blessings in Abundance”

05/25/2026

05/21/2026

https://wjactv.com/news/local/nurse-honor-guards-remember-flight-93-victim-former-emt-as-911-anniversary-nears

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05/21/2026

When a Nurse Die

When a nurse dies,
a quiet ache drifts through hospital halls,
through the homes she returned to tired,
yet still willing to give more.

Patients feel it first
the ones she held through fear,
the ones who borrowed her strength
when their own was failing.
They remember her voice,
her steady hands,
the hope she carried
into rooms where hope was fading.

Her family feels it too
those who shared her with the world,
watched her leave before sunrise,
return after midnight,
and still asked, “Are you okay?”
as if she hadn’t spent the day carrying everyone else’s pain.

When a nurse dies,
it is not just a life lost.
It is a world made colder,
and yet a legacy that rises:
in every patient she saved,
every family she comforted,
every nurse who walks a little braver
because she walked before them.

She is not gone.
She has crossed to a gentler place
where alarms don’t scream,
and hearts don’t break.

Rest, beloved soul.
Your hands have healed enough.
Your love lingers in all of us.

05/20/2026

05/11/2026

If Florence Nightingale Were Still Alive…

If Florence Nightingale were still alive,
I would sit at her feet
not just to learn how to hold a lamp,
but how to carry its fire.

I would tell her
the battlefield has changed,
but the war remains
burnout, broken systems, underpayment, silent suffering.

I would show her our scrubs
how they carry not just fabric,
but exhaustion, sacrifice, endurance.

I would tell her about the nurses
who keep showing up in silence,
whose stories never reach the world.

And if she were here,
I would ask softly:
“How did you keep going when no one believed?”

And I imagine she would answer:
“Because care mattered more than praise.”

I would walk her through our modern wards
lights, screens, machines everywhere.
Then I would ask again:
“How do we keep the heart alive in all this technology?”

I would show her something else too
nurses rising.
Not only as caregivers,
but as leaders, thinkers, builders of change.

And I would promise her this:
I will not let the flame fade.
I will protect the work.
I will protect the ones who do the work.

Not out of rebellion
but responsibility.

If she were still alive,
I would not only honor her…
I would walk with her.

Because her lamp was never meant to end.

It was passed on.

And now it is in our hands.

05/07/2026

For National Nurses Week 2026 (May 6–12), the American Nurses Association (ANA) has announced the theme as "The Power of Nurses". This theme recognizes the immense impact nurses have on patient care, advocacy, leadership, and the future of healthcare.

Key Aspects of the 2026

Theme:Celebrating Impact: The theme focuses on celebrating the invaluable contributions of nurses worldwide.

Leadership & Advocacy: It highlights the role of nurses in leadership, policy, and advocating for patients.

Advancing Care: It emphasizes how nurses drive innovation and improve patient outcomes