Hazel Richardson has brought dozens of children into the world. Four of them are her own, but many, many others she helped deliver during her time as administrator of the Butler Maternity Hospital in Cloquet. Unequivocally, she loves them all.

When Richardson's family celebrated her 90th birthday last Saturday with an open house, a number of the babies she delivered during the 1950s, and/or their mothers, were in attendance to pay tribute to this amazing women.

Richardson was born in Arcola, Minn., a little whistlestop just outside Stillwater. Her parents moved around a lot as her father went wherever there was work. He did foundry work, and during the war he worked in sandblasting. He also shoveled grain and went wherever he could make the most money.

When Richardson was 16, her father got a job on a dairy farm in northern Wisconsin, so the family moved to Ashland. Though, as so many young people of that day, she didn't finish high school, she later went on to get her GED.

She met her husband through his sister, who attended her church, and the two were married Jan. 9, 1936. The first child was born the following year.

Richardson went into nurses' training when her third child was still a baby in the playpen, working as an aide at St. Joseph's Hospital in Ashland.

Richardson specialized in obstetrical nursing, working mostly the 3-11 p.m. shift as the nurse on duty, so she was right there when the doctors delivered the babies and learned all about it.

Richardson was impatient with the stalemate, so she went to Trinity Hospital across town, told them her plight and asked if they would be willing to circulate her throughout the hospital so she could get the experience she needed to write the state exam for her licensure. Not only did they agree, but they offered her a higher salary as well.

Richardson rotated around the other departments until she had enough experience to write her state board exam in Madison. While she was waiting for the results, she answered an ad for a job in Cloquet at Dr. John Butler's Maternity Hospital.

When Richardson first came to town and began work, she stayed right at the Butler Hospital until she found a house and got it ready for her family. Since her youngest child was only three or four at the time, her mother took care of her children until they were able to join Richardson in Cloquet.

The Butler Maternity Hospital ? today a private home ? was a two-story structure located on 14th Street. Dr. Butler opened it to accommodate maternity patients so they would not have to travel to Duluth in the dead of winter to deliver their babies. Dr. Eppert, Dr. Bepko Sr., and Bepko's wife also brought their maternity patients there.

Richardson lost track of how many babies she helped deliver over the years, but she said from time to time, she has someone come up to her to talk about it.

In fact, there's one in particular ? a good friend of Richardson's ex-daughter-in-law ? who actually brought her birth certificate over and showed it to her. It bears both Butler's and Richardson's signatures.

Richardson remained the sole administrator of the Butler Maternity Hospital up until it closed after Community Memorial Hospital was built in the late 1950s.

She got a job at the Superior hospital, and during that time she took in four foster children ? four sisters, the youngest of whom was four years old. Eventually, she decided to quit her job in order to stay home with them.

The youngest girl remained especially close to Richardson, and she now lives in Duluth and has two children of her own as well as four or five grandchildren.

When her mother became ill, she gave up the job and went to Ashland to take care of her. After her mother passed away, Richardson went back to work at the hospital in Ashland for a time before buying a large private home and taking in elderly welfare patients.

Though the work was satisfying, it was cut short by a sports mishap. Richardson had taken up cross country skiing at the age of 60, and one day when she was skiing with her daughter, she had a fall that injured her shoulder so she could no longer help her patients in and out of the bathtub.

Richardson's birthday open house at the Scanlon Community Center last Saturday was attended by many who celebrated her life and accomplishments. Among them were her five children, 14 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren, and six great-great-grandchildren, as well as some of the mothers and babies she helped during delivery.

At age 90, Richardson still exhibits much of the energy, zest for life and sense of compassion that have served her so well through her remarkable career.

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