The Heart Behind RCC’s Nursing Program
There are people in the Northern Neck whose influence can still be seen decades later—not because they sought recognition, but because they quietly poured themselves into others. For hundreds of nurses across Virginia and beyond, that person is Catherine Courtney.
Long before Riverside Tappahannock Hospital expanded, before healthcare facilities dotted the region, and before nursing became one of the Northern Neck’s largest professions, Catherine Courtney saw what this area would need: well-trained, compassionate nurses rooted in their community. And through her determination, that vision became reality.
Born Catherine Mooklar, her roots run deep through the Northern Neck. She grew up on Main Street in Reedville, graduated from Northumberland High School in 1962, and from an early age knew exactly what she wanted to do.
“I always wanted to be a nurse,” she said simply.
Even as an eighth grader, Catherine spent time helping in a local doctor’s office—answering phones, pulling charts, and typing papers. The calling was already there.
After attending Mary Washington College for two years, family hardship changed her path. Her father died and finances became tight. She transferred to the nursing program at Johnston-Willis Hospital School of Nursing, graduating in 1967 before eventually earning both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
Her professional life began in Richmond, teaching nursing students at Johnston-Willis and Richmond Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, while also completing graduate studies at Virginia Commonwealth University.
But the Northern Neck would soon call her home again.
In 1972, Catherine married Lewis Courtney, a well-known local jeweler who purchased the longtime jewelry business in Warsaw. Their love story began with persistence—and a tuxedo.
After Lewis unsuccessfully tried asking her out several times, Catherine finally called him herself when she needed a date for a formal nursing school dance.
Her first question?
“Do you own a tuxedo?”
He did.
Their first date included standing together in a receiving line at the dance, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Not long after returning to the Northern Neck, Catherine was finishing her master’s degree when an opportunity arose that would forever change healthcare education in the region.
Officials at the newly formed Rappahannock Community College wanted to start a nursing program. Catherine was recruited to help build it from the ground up.
And build it she did.
Starting in 1974, Catherine became instrumental in creating and growing RCC’s nursing program during a time when healthcare resources in the Northern Neck were still extremely limited.
“At that time,” she recalled, “there was one little hospital in Tappahannock and one nursing home in Middlesex. That was all the healthcare facilities in the area.”
She could already see what the future would require.
Over the next 30 years, Catherine helped shape one of Virginia’s most respected nursing programs—one that eventually trained well over 1,000 nurses. Many of them stayed right here in the Northern Neck, serving in local hospitals, nursing homes, doctor’s offices, and healthcare systems throughout the region.
For much of those three decades, Catherine was the only full-time faculty member in the program.
She taught classroom instruction, supervised clinicals, mentored students, recruited support, raised scholarship money, and fought fiercely for her students’ success.
“I always believed students learn by hearing, seeing, and doing,” she said.
Her emphasis on hands-on clinical experience became a defining strength of the program.
At one point, RCC’s nursing program was rated #1 in the state of Virginia—an extraordinary accomplishment for what Catherine still affectionately calls “a little program.”
Former students have stopped her in grocery stores, keep in touch years later, and credit her for changing the course of their lives.
And perhaps that is what mattered most to her all along.
Catherine wasn’t just teaching nursing skills. She was helping students believe they belonged there.
She quietly helped struggling students with money for gas, books, and necessities—often through donations slipped into her hands by community members who trusted her heart and judgment. Doctors’ wives, local businessmen, friends, and neighbors all contributed in quiet ways because they knew Catherine would make sure the help reached someone who truly needed it.
Outside of nursing, Catherine has remained deeply woven into the life of the community. She has been active with Friends of the Library, served for years at Henderson United Methodist Church, and still gathers monthly with friends she first met in the first grade at Reedville Elementary School.
But Catherine also hopes the Northern Neck never loses the character and sense of community that make it special.
“Don’t change it,” she said with a smile.
She appreciates the growth and new energy people have brought to the area over the years, but also believes there is something worth preserving in the slower pace, deep roots, and neighborly spirit of the Northern Neck.
It is a perspective that feels especially meaningful coming from someone who spent her life investing in this community while helping generations of others do the same.
For more than three decades, Catherine Courtney didn’t simply teach nursing students. She helped strengthen the very fabric of healthcare across the Northern Neck through the people she mentored, encouraged, and believed in.
Catherine Courtney strengthened the Northern Neck by serving the people already here—one student, one nurse, one life at a time.