It started with a wish

Local nurse, author and civic leader Katie Hart Smith donates a nursing artifact collection to inspire students to pursue their passions.

One day in 2016, the GGC Center for Teaching Excellence committee gathered to discuss a collaborative research project between the college and the Lawrenceville Police Department (LPD).

Attendees included Jeff Smith, LPD captain and part-time GGC criminal justice instructor, Dr. Sharon Grason, director of nursing, and several nursing students.

During the meeting, Grason expressed a “wish” for an old nursing cape to be showcased in the Allied Health and Sciences Building.

Upon returning home that evening, Jeff mentioned this wish to his wife, Katie Hart Smith, setting in motion a unique donation that will inspire GGC nursing students for years to come.

For Katie, health care is a three-generation tradition. Her grandmother, Orvada “Gigi” Killion Isensee, is a legendary figure in her family.

Isensee was a strong-willed young woman in 1924 when she defied her father’s orders to stay on the family farm in southern Indiana, marry and have children. She knew that an education was the key to breaking the chains of poverty. She wanted to become a registered nurse, serve others, travel the world and experience a life well-lived.

“She secretly applied to nursing school at Methodist Episcopal Hospital in Indianapolis. She and her mom sewed her nursing uniform during the day, and hid it away in her hope chest at night,” Katie said. “One day when her father came home off the fields, she was gone. As a result, he disowned her.”

Isensee’s determined decision forever changed her family’s trajectory. Katie’s mom also worked in health care and

earned two master’s degrees and her sister earned a master’s in education. Katie holds a bachelor’s of science in nursing and an MBA. As a result of Isensee’s international travels, she taught her family about different cultures, appreciation of arts and music, how to be financially responsible and resourceful, and the importance of social service and faith.

Her grandmother’s story of overcoming economic hardship and some of the social and political issues of her day inspired Katie to write a historical fiction series including Aspirations of the Heart and Hope Never Rests, works that earned nominations for the Georgia Author of the Year award and which were placed in the Georgia Governor’s Mansion Library by First Lady Sandra Deal.

After learning of Grason’s wish, Katie was moved to share her family’s inspiring story with GGC’s nursing students.

Katie had not only her grandmother’s nursing cape, but an impressive collection of nursing memorabilia spanning 90 years. This included textbooks, medical instruments, report cards, patient drawings and notes, a nursing school acceptance letter, exam questions, and a nursing license and diploma from Methodist Episcopal Hospital.

Katie donated this collection, including her mother’s medical shoes and her own nursing cap, to the School of Health Sciences (SHS). The artifacts are now displayed in the SHS dean’s office.

“This gift does more than reflect on nursing history. It is deeply meaningful because many of our students face their own challenges,” said Dr. Diane White, SHS dean. “Gigi Isensee’s powerful story shows our students what you can do when you chart your own path, and how first-generation college graduates can impact generations of their families.”

Katie and Jeff also are among the charter members of GGC’s Emerald Society, which recognizes donors who include GGC in their estate plans.

“Jeff and I have been excited about GGC since its founding,” Katie said. “We see donating to the college as an investment not only in the future of the college, but also in the future of the students and the community.”

During installation of the nursing memorabilia display last fall, Katie opened her grandmother’s Principles of Bacteriology textbook and found the following in Isensee’s handwriting, “He is greatest who serves most people.”

After blinking back tears, she and Grason propped the book open to that very page to serve as an inspirational reminder of what the art of nursing is really all about – serving and caring for others.

Katie and Jeff Smith are Emerald Society charter members.

GGC Foundation introduces the

Inspired by the emerald’s symbolism of vision, the GGC Foundation’s Emerald Society recognizes those individuals whose vision of their legacy includes support of Georgia Gwinnett College and its students through a planned estate gift.

Planned gifts can be small or large and come in many forms. These gifts are significant because they represent a donor’s commitment to fulfill the educational goals of GGC students for generations to come. If you have included GGC in your estate plans, we invite you to join the Emerald Society so that we may say, “Thank you.”

Please contact the Office of Advancement at 678.407.5588 to talk with a member of our Development staff about the Emerald Society and the variety of available planned giving options.

Katie Smith’s artifact collection is displayed in the School of Health Sciences (SHS) dean’s office. Shown are Dr. Diane White, SHS dean, Katie Smith and her mother, Brenda Hart, Jeff Smith and Dr. Sharon Grason, director of nursing.