Ade Auste came to the U.S. as a young nurse in the ’70s, recruited from the Philippines by a small-town Texas hospital desperate for nursing staff. In 1980, she moved to Dallas and began caring for patients at the former St. Paul University Hospital, and later William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital.

“We have a culture like a small-town family,” Ms. Auste says of her UTSW work family. The best part of her job as Registered Nurse II, she adds, is “knowing that I’ll be helping somebody get better.”

But that doesn’t mean she’s forgotten about her first home in the Philippines. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Auste was acutely aware of the hardship in her old coastal village. Soon after restrictions were enacted in March 2020, she began sending money to her sister and brother in her home country so they could purchase and distribute food to the community’s needy. “We have a lot of poor people in my hometown,” she explains.

Giving to those less fortunate is a family tradition. Every January, her late mother would make noodles to give to the poor for Three Kings Day, the Christian holiday commemorating when the three wise men arrived with gifts for baby Jesus. Now her sister makes the noodles, with Ms. Auste sending money to help pay the cost.

Texas is now home, Ms. Auste says, and she has no plans of moving back to the Philippines, although she may take an extended vacation. Along with her husband – her college sweetheart whom she married shortly before they came to the U.S. – her son and two grandchildren are here.

Helping the sick has become her life’s work. During her time at UT Southwestern, she has worked in the Surgical ICU, Cardiovascular Interventional Radiology (CVIR), and now in the surgery preparation and recovery unit at Clements University Hospital, caring for day surgery patients.

Through the years, Ms. Auste has also cared for organ transplant patients and was a nursing educator – the latter being one of her favorite jobs, since it allowed her to orient new nurses coming to UTSW. In fact, one of her current projects is putting together a resource guide that nurses can use to prepare patients for various procedures.

As she’s moved from one type of care to another, Ms. Auste says she has enjoyed the variety of her duties. “I like the challenge of the changes,” she says.

One thing has remained a constant, though. Soon after arriving at St. Paul in 1980, she befriended Pat Lee, another new nurse who started that year in the Coronary Care Unit. They celebrated their 35^th anniversary year together at UT Southwestern in 2016. During the festivities, the two made a pact: “Let’s make it to 40 years,” they agreed.

This month, the two plan to be together again at the annual celebration that honors UTSW employees for 25, 30, 35, 40, and 45 years of service.