Jeanne Coyle Giddens

If you're a Baby Boomer born at Archbold Memorial Hospital, odds are that Jeanne Coyle Giddens had a hand in bringing you into the world. Mrs. Giddens was chief obstetrics nurse at Archbold for many years, assisting or presiding over the delivery and care of thousands of newborns from 1947 until her retirement in 1987. Mrs. Giddens, 90, died March 4 at Camellia Gardens of Life Care in Thomasville. Visitation/Life Celebration will be from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 10 at Allen and Allen Funeral Home. A native of Boiling Springs, Pa., Mrs. Giddens was a graduate of Germantown School of Nursing in Philadelphia. In World War II, Mrs. Giddens served as a U.S. Army nurse aboard the USAHS Frances Y Slanger, an ocean liner converted into a hospital ship late in the war. It was there that she met her husband-to-be, the late Tharon Giddens Sr., who was serving as a guard aboard the ship. They were wed during a port call to New York City on Oct. 6, 1945. In 1947, they moved to Thomasville and raised a family. Mrs. Giddens was devoted to the care of her charges, the newborns and their moms, starting her day well before dawn so she could check on the overnight shift and be there as the morning nurses reported to duty. Devotion to family was paramount. She was fiercely protective and a loving, guiding presence for her children, and later her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. In her spare time, Mrs. Giddens always had a book or newspaper in hand. She loved to make regular excursions with her husband to visit family and thoroughly enjoyed weekly shopping trips to Tallahassee, Fla., with her late friend Evelyn Gay. Survivors include her children, Sharon Jeanne Giddens of Thomasville, and Tharon Giddens II and Donna Sela-Giddens of Richmond, Va.; seven grandchildren, Kristina Jeanne and Donald Foster of Tampa, Fla., Jay and Shawn Jones of Athens, Ga.; Elizabeth, Tharon III and Michael Giddens of Augusta, Ga.; five great-grandchildren, Abigail, Amelia, Ava and Ashley Foster and Mavis Jones; nephew, George Ronald Lopozer and wife Brenda of Millington, Tenn., and special friends, Debra and Eddie Lucky Gay of Tallahassee, Lowell Rieger of Thomasville, and Twila Jones of Thomasville. Memorials may be made to the American Heart Association, the Archbold Foundation, or the Thomas County Humane Society. Allen and Allen Funeral Home is responsible for arrangements, and you may sign the online guest register at www.allenfh.com .