Three receive Gautier Nursing Scholarship

Three Beaufort County Community College students have been awarded scholarships provideded in honor of Hyde County native, Nina Mae Berry Gautier, by her daughter. Chosen for the award were Andre L. Browning Jr., Bailee Nicole Cowan and Deborah Rollins.

Browning, 24, of Robersonville, left, is a student in BCCC’s Associate Degree Nursing Program. A graduate of Bertie High School, he is the son of Alvin and Daivie Browning of Windsor. He and his wife, D’Jara, have three children. He hopes to find a job in his field after completing his studies at BCCC.

“I thank you from the bottom of my heart,” he said. “This really helps me and my family.”

Cowan, 19, of Williamston, below left, is also a student in BCCC’s ADN Program. A graduate of Williamston High School, Cowan is the daughter of Margaret and Larry Pierce. She is employed as a cashier at Piggly Wiggly. She hopes to work at a local hospital and continue her education after graduating from BCCC.

Rollins, 46, of Greenville, right, is also a student in BCCC’s ADN Program. A graduate of Gates

County High School, she hopes to work in surgical intensive care nursing after completing her studies at BCCC. She was certified as an Emergency Medical Technician in 1982 and works at Pitt County Memorial Hospital as a

nursing assistant. Rollins is the daughter of Joyce Moore of Eure, N.C. She and h

er husband, Bobby, have four children.

“I would like to say thank you very much,” she said. “The scholarship will be put to good use. It will help ease the financial burden of going to school and working part-time.”

Mrs. Gautier was born in Hyde County in 1912. She trained as a registered nurse, graduated and worked for Tayloe Hospital in Washington. After she and her husband James married, they moved to Dalgren, Va., where they lived for over 50 years. Mrs. Gautier left nursing in the late 1950s and started a floral business. Mrs. Gautier was active in local garden clubs throughout her life. In her later years, she returned to Washington. She had four children, 15 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren. After Mrs. Gautier’s death in 2009, her daughter, Barbara Gaumont-Lanvin, known to her friends as Bobbie, donated the scholarship funds in her mother’s memory.