DENVER — What do President Dwight Eisenhower, Cab Calloway and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. have in common? They all met former Army nurse Dolores Collins, of course.
Denver7 joined Volunteers of America for their annual “I Remember Mama” campaign this week, which includes delivering flowers and goodie bags to women in our area ahead of Mother’s Day. Luckily, that led us to the home of the 90-year-old pioneer and legend.
Dolores worked at Fitzsimons Military Hospital from the 1950s until it closed in 1991 and treated President Dwight Eisenhower after his heart attack in 1955. He remained in the hospital for seven weeks.
“I gave him some cool water, made his bed…I did all of that for him,” said Collins, who moved here from West Virginia when he was 18. “[He was] beautiful.”
In the story above, you can learn more about the “I Remember Mama” campaign and Dolores’ life. She even tells the story of her meeting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and how it didn’t exactly go as planned!
For more information on the amazing work of Volunteers of America Colorado, you can go here.