Abroad and at home, Malaysia RPCV Darlene Fellows offers help
Abroad and at home, Fellows offers help
Caption: Darlene Fellows was a member of the Peace Corp from 1962-64 after graduating from St. Mary’s School of Nursing in Madison in 1956. B.A. Rupert/Press-Gazette
By Vince A. Feeling
vfeeling@greenbaypressgazette.com
Good Neighbor
Name: Darlene Fellows
Age: 68
Lives: Green Bay
Surrounded by pictures of family and friends, Green Bay resident Darlene Fellows, 68, sat in her living room, sorting through years of memorabilia.
“Growing up,” Fellows said, “I never believed that I would have the opportunity to travel and help people all over the world.”
And help people around the world she did. Fellows said there are very few places in the world that she hasn’t been in her mission.
Fellows has been a resident of Green Bay all of her life. As long as she can remember, she said, she has always loved to help people. She loved it so much that it moved her to earn a degree from St. Mary’s School of Nursing in Madison in 1956.
She later joined the Peace Corps. She said she was inspired to do so after hearing a speech by Dr. Thomas Dooley, a physician who worked to heal the sick in remote places and the author of “Deliver us from Evil” and “The Night They Burned the Mountain.”
In 1962, Fellows was one of hundreds of people across the United States who joined the Corps. She served two years and has never stopped helping people as much as she can.
She said the Peace Corps does more than just help other countries. The organization also shows that many Americans are not rich or wealthy but just ordinary people.
“I’m thankful to live in a country that protects your freedoms and lets you pursue your dreams,” she said.
After joining the Peace Corps, Fellows traveled to Malaysia to teach nursing. After serving there, Fellows stopped in Calcutta, India, and worked for Mother Teresa, whom she greatly respects.
Though her travels have taken her to countless places in the world, she said one of her favorite spots was right in her own back yard. She has always loved the outdoors and takes a walk almost every day.
Despite recent health problems, she continues her quest to help make the world a better place.
“There are so many horrendous things that are going on today,” she said, “I’m just trying to make it a little better.”
Other than promoting the Corps everywhere she goes, she also donates much of her time to her community and to St. Jude Catholic Church on Kellogg Street.
“She’s a wonderful lady with a lot of stories,” said Laura Van Ark, secretary of religious education at St. Jude. Van Ark, who has been at St. Jude for two years, said Fellows seems to visit every day.
Fellows said she has been a member of St. Jude for more than 30 years. Every week, she helps fold the bulletins and delivers some to her neighbors.
She said she has always been an advocate for education and tries to promote it whenever she has a chance.
“I’ll do anything for little kids,” she said.
Fellows said she has been blessed with the gift of helping others and will continue to share it as much as she can.
