Jackie Stephens bustled cheerfully around the offices of Lake Area Dentistry on Wednesday tending to patients, but she said her last full day on the job was bittersweet as she put away her instruments for the last time, said goodbye to co-workers and patients, and retired at 75 years old after working as a dental hygienist for 55 years.

“It’s hard to believe that I have spent 55 years at my profession,” Stephens said. “It has been a very fulfilling career, and I’ve formed lifelong bonds of friendship with people I have worked with over the years.”

For the last quarter of a century, Stephens worked for Dr. Nathan Bray and in recent years for Dr. Jeffery Hennigan, both at Lake Area Dentistry.

Stephens was in the first graduating class in dental hygiene at the Loyola School of Dentistry in 1962. “I was a small-town girl with some apprehension about living in the big city of New Orleans,” she said. “Fortunately, a group of slightly older students in dental school from the Lake Charles area, including Dr. Charles Mackey, Dr. Southie Hayes, Dr. Bud Bono and Dr. Kenneth Wimberly, took me under their wings, mentored me and protected me like a young sister.”

She said her patients have been “a pleasure to work with. Over the years I have seen four generations of some families — grandparents, parents, children and now grandchildren. I have grown to love all of them. We have shared the joys of their life’s experiences and the sorrows of some difficult times in their lives. I have witnessed many important changes in dentistry procedures and technology, but I have always placed empathy with, and service to my patients, as my highest priority.”

Angie Peck, administrator at Lake Area Dentistry and Stephens’ co-worker for 25 years, said, “I don’t know many people that have worked at their profession for 55 years. Jackie is truly one of a kind. It’s been a privilege to be her friend and co-worker all these years. She’s always been the sunshine in my day, and I’m really going to miss her.”

Now that she has retired, Stephens said she’s looking forward to traveling more with her husband, Jerry, something the two of them enjoyed over the years, having traveled to Hawaii, Washington, D.C., and throughout Europe.

She said she and her husband are fans of both McNeese and LSU and are looking forward to attending more games for both teams in the future. “We cherish our weekend tailgating activities with our group of friends during football and baseball season and thoroughly enjoy our joint RV travels together.”

But family time is something she said she enjoys more than just about anything else. “We are especially proud of our daughter, Kitty, and her husband, Brian Johnson. They are very active in animal conservation and have made many trips to Africa to volunteer with efforts to save endangered species. We’re equally proud of our son, Jeremy, who has followed in the footsteps of his father, learning the art and science of the life and health insurance business.”

Stephens said, “Life has been so good to me and my family. I’m blessed to have made so many friendships and memories along the way. I wish I could personally say ‘thank you’ today to every single one of the patients that I have come in contact with over the years. They supported me, and shared their lives and their love with me. I’m so grateful.”

Jackie Stephens cleans a patient’s teeth on Wednesday, the final day of her 55-year career as a dental hygienist. Over the years, she has seen four generations of some families, but now looks forward to traveling with her husband. (Rick Hickman/American Press)

Rick Hickman