A nurse with many gifts

There are many facets to Elizabeth Petrell

BY ELLEN GILLETTE

Nurses routinely identify and treat belly ailments, but not many are also belly dancers like Port St. Lucie’s Elizabeth Petrell.

Born in Plymouth, Mass., Petrell’s family has historical ties to John Alden of Mayflower fame. Another famous relative, selectman James T. Frazier, is honored at the Frazier Memorial Pier where the replica Mayflower II is docked.

A self-described “math-o-phobe,” Petrell gravitated to literature in school. Her father was a welder; her mother worked at a hospital as a lab tech, then as a medical transcriptionist. As a teenager, Petrell worked at various restaurants.