IWP Donor Spotlight: William and Paula Trivette

“I feel much more fulfilled when I give my time, talents, gifts, and service.”
-Paula Trivette

Part of IWP’s raison d’être is to cultivate a spirit of service and civic duty among its students, inspiring them to recognize that there are causes higher than oneself. It is fitting, therefore, that our community of supporters is full of those who live lives of service to others and to our country.  

A case in point is LTC (Ret) William (Bill) Trivette and LTC (Ret) Paula Trivette, who have been supporting IWP since 2016. Bill has served our country as an Army infantryman and lawyer, and later as an Assistant Federal Public Defender. He continues some of this work in private practice today while volunteering for multiple nonprofit organizations.  

Paula served as an Army Nurse, spending an intense six years in the White House Medical Clinic, traveling the world with President Ronald Reagan and President George H. W. Bush. Today, she volunteers in many capacities, notably channeling her nursing experience with the death and dying process into helping grieving families plan funerals at her church. 

In the stories below, the Trivettes share about a fainting President, a WWII paratrooper turned Scoutmaster, and a surprise weekend with Roger Whittaker.  

Paula’s Story

Paula’s motive for joining the Army, she tells us, was “purely financial.” One of 18 children who had to pay for her own Catholic high school, she was eager for an opportunity to attend college with a scholarship.  

After graduation and commissioning on active duty, her first assignment was in San Antonio. There, she said, “I fell in love with intensive care nursing, and I fell intensely in love with Bill Trivette.”  

After marrying Bill, her Army nursing career brought her to Colorado, Germany, and later Walter Reed Hospital in the D.C. area, where she served as the head nurse of the Army’s largest intensive care unit.  

Her next job was at the White House Medical Clinic. In addition to providing care for the 2,000 employees at the White House, Paula and her team would create medical emergency plans for all the President’s travel. They would also travel with the President, ready to implement this plan if needed.  

In 1992, the emergency plan was needed. President Bush was in Japan playing tennis with the Japanese Prime Minister immediately after arriving in country. He became ill shortly after the tennis match, but he refused to miss the State Dinner hosted by the Prime Minister. During the dinner, President Bush suddenly fell ill, leaned over, vomited into the Prime Minister’s lap, and then fainted. When he collapsed, Paula sprang into action.  

 

“He was mortified,” said Paula. “I knew he would not be taken out on a stretcher – he walked out on his own power and apologized for the incident. When we all got back to the palace, his main concern was to avoid being an inconvenience to us.”  

Today, Paula spends much of her time volunteering. Having worked as an intensive care and rapid response nurse in Greensboro, she was nicknamed the “death nurse” – she would often be called when someone was about to die. “I would be there for the family as they took a loved one off a ventilator and help prepare them for what might be happening,” she recalled.  

Now, she channels her “experience with death and dying” into the funeral consolation ministry at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Greensboro, North Carolina. “My work doesn’t take away the pain and grief, but it helps with the process,” said Paula. “What’s rewarding is when I hear back from the families about how much they appreciate the support.”  

Paula also volunteers full-time for the Salvation Army – “I left one Army and joined another one!” she quipped. She is also on the kitchen committee, food ministry, and newcomers’ and seniors’ ministry at her church.  

Bill’s Story

As a ten-year-old boy with a WWII Navy veteran father, Bill attended a talk in his small North Carolina church by the highest-ranking cadet at West Point. “His uniform made an impression on me,” said Bill.  

Later, as a Boy Scout, his Scoutmaster was a former World War II paratrooper. “When we went camping, we would hear stories about the Airborne. We idolized Army paratroopers,” Bill recalled.  

Bill was soon studying at West Point himself, after which he served with the 82nd Airborne Division (Ft. Bragg), 2nd Infantry Division (Korea), and 5th Special Forces Group (Ft. Bragg). 

An NCO advised him to take advantage of the Army Legal Education Program. “It was the right decision for me,” said Bill. “I met Paula while studying law in San Antonio, and our lives changed.”  

Bill served as an Army lawyer for about 15 years. Upon retirement, he used his legal expertise to serve the American people in a new way: as an Assistant Federal Public Defender in Greensboro. “I had always enjoyed military criminal law,” he said. “My work in federal court was very demanding, with long hours. But it was very rewarding.”  

He eventually went into the private sector, taking some of his cases with him. “It stayed demanding!” he said.  

In addition to his legal work, Bill serves as President of the West Point Society of the Piedmont, where he has hosted IWP speakers on several occasions. He also serves as the current President of his Rotary Club and two charitable boards.  

Both of Bill and Paula’s sons have also chosen lives of service: Evan is a West Point graduate and Colonel in the Army Medical Corps, and Eric is a graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and is a Lieutenant Colonel in Army Aviation Branch.  

Adventures in White House Nursing

Paula shared a few stories with us from her days as a White House Nurse, and they are below in her own words.

The Reagan Ranch Experience

President Reagan loved to look over his land, so he would trim trees to make a nice, even tree line. Just imagine seeing the President of the USA on a stepladder with a chainsaw! I would pray, “Lord, please keep him safe.” 

We always carried a cooler of drinks for the President while he was working on the ranch. The military aide, the photographer, a White House physician, and a nurse were all on the ranch. He called me his “Gunga Din” because I would bring him his drinks. (Gunga Din was an Indian water-carrier referred to in Rudyard Kipling’s 1892 poem.) 

A Cookie from First Lady Nancy Reagan

I was Mrs. Reagan’s day nurse when she had her breast cancer surgery. Every time I walked into her room at Bethesda Naval Hospital, I would see balloons, flowers, cookies, and a tiny lady in a huge bed.  

She said, “Why don’t you take a cookie home for your boys?” I had no idea she knew I was married or had boys. I took a cookie home, and my son Evan, about age 6, got out a blank sheet of construction paper and was punching holes into it. He was making a thank you card. Those paper punches were chocolate chips. It was unsolicited by me. He said, “Please give this to Mrs. Reagan and thank her for the cookie.” When I did, tears came into her eyes.  

Supporting Mrs. Reagan in a Heartbreaking Moment

One day after Mrs. Reagan was discharged from the hospital, Dr. Hutton, Physician to the President and in charge of the White House Medical Clinic, summoned me. He told me we would have to go with the President to tell the First Lady that her mother died.  

President Reagan told her, and she was sobbing. It was the moment the great communicator ran out of words. The President motioned for me to come in. I was standing at the end of the bed when she pulled me onto the bed with her. We were both crying.  

Reagan said, “Where do you find such nurses as Paula?” It was a touching moment.  

Ensuring Care for President Reagan in His Final Years

When President Reagan fell and broke his hip in Los Angeles, I received a message from Mrs. Reagan – she wanted me to come take care of him when he was discharged from the hospital.  

I was honored that she asked me to come. I stayed for six weeks. It was a treasured time. I got to know her. I worked the 8 PM to 8 AM shift so that she would get some sleep, knowing that I was there to take care of her husband. 

She was always very worried about who would take care of him when I returned to Greensboro. I had a friend, Lori, who was a travel nurse. I thought she would be perfect. She is beautiful inside and out. She came, interviewed with Mrs. Reagan, was hired, and was President Reagan’s nurse for three years until he died in 2004. 

A Prank Call from President Bush?

When we moved to our home in Greensboro, I got a phone call from President George H. W. Bush. My son Evan answered formally: “The Trivette Residence, Evan speaking.” When President Bush identified himself, Evan thought it was one of his new friends playing a joke. He said, “Hey-ya, George!”  

President Bush asked him to tell his mom that he called. Later, President Bush told me, “Paulita, let me tell you about the conversation I had with Evan.” I told President Bush that Evan was mortified, but President Bush thought it was a fun conversation.

A Weekend with Roger Whittaker

President Bush loved the music of Roger Whittaker, and I did, too. In the evenings, if President Bush stopped by the medical clinic, the nurse on duty would often play a Roger Whittaker cassette tape for him.  

One evening, Roger’s tape was destroyed by accident, so the President said that we needed to form a Roger Whittaker fan club. He couldn’t be the President of the fan club because he was already the President of the United States. So, one of my fellow nurses became the president of the Roger Whittaker Fan Club, and President Bush was the Recording Secretary.  

We had to formally request membership into the club by preparing a video tape. I put on a beard and pretended that I was Roger. I said that I grew up on the back streets of London but was told I had no musical talent. So, I moved to the USA. In memory of those London days, I’m going to sing for my audition “For The Good Times.” At that point, my beard fell off. 

President Bush said the discussion about my membership was vigorous. I was admitted to the club but asked not to sing any longer. There were six of us in the club. 

Once he left office, President Bush invited his nurses for a weekend at Kennebunkport, Maine. We decided to surprise him by making it a Roger Whittaker weekend. We made t-shirts with our picture next to Roger, as well as Roger Whittaker Fan Club ballcaps. 

When we arrived, the surprise was on us. President Bush gave us sweatpants with “More Roger in Our Lives” on the back pocket.  As a further surprise, he had invited Roger and his wife, Natalie, to come to the weekend too! Roger gave us concerts on Friday and Saturday.  

These are just a few of Paula’s stories. She has many more – a ruptured ovary while on duty in Helsinki, meeting the pope during a phase of her life away from the Catholic Church, attending the Nutcracker in the President’s box, and having President Bush personally request that she stay at the White House for another three years.  

Advice for IWP Students

When asked for advice for our students, Bill said, “Congratulations on coming to IWP and getting this education. Life is short, and you should approach every day with this in mind. You can’t redo this moment. Carpe diem. Work hard. Study hard. And good luck!”  

Paula shared, “There is no better place to live than America. For as much as the country has changed, it is worth fighting for. Keep learning!”  

IWP is grateful to Bill and Paula for their support of our school and for their incredible example of living a life dedicated to causes greater than themselves.