Mrs. Anne Pitts: Bluffton’s angel with a needle

By the time Anne Pitts hung up her nurse’s cap for good, folks around Bluffton, Hilton Head, and Daufuskie swore they’d never meet another quite like her. And truth be told, they were probably right.

Anne—better known as “Pittsy”—was the kind of woman who could jab a hypodermic needle into your hip with military precision, then wink and tell you to behave yourself. She had a way of making even the most stubborn patient swallow their pills, not with threats, but with a grin and a dose of good humor.

When Anne moved to Bluffton in 1943, health care was… well, let’s just say “make-do.” If you cracked a rib, broke an arm, or keeled over during a football game, Pittsy was the one you wanted striding through the door. For a long time, she was the only public health nurse around.

Need a baby delivered? She was there. Need someone to check your blood pressure, dress a burn, or give you a shot of courage along with that penicillin? That was Pittsy too. She even climbed aboard Charlie Simmons’ old mail boat, The Alligator, to reach patients on Daufuskie, carrying her black bag like Mary Poppins—if Mary Poppins carried syringes.

One story folks never stopped telling was the time she revived Alex Ulmer, a football player knocked out cold on the field. Doctors’ tricks weren’t working, so Pittsy did what Pittsy did best: she took charge. “I reared back and let him have it on the chin,” she laughed years later. Sure enough, he came to. Alex himself admitted, “You hit me harder than I’ve ever been hit in my life. Thanks.”

The officials sometimes grumbled that Pittsy “spoiled” the citizens by doing more than regulations allowed. She shrugged it off. “When there’s no one else to help, you have to try,” she said. And try she did—bandaging stroke patients, straightening babies’ necks, even volunteering after hours when her day’s work was done.

It wasn’t just medicine. She had a way of steadying nerves, calming anxious mothers, and reassuring whole families. Her patients got more than skilled care; they got love, kindness, and maybe a playful scolding or two.

Over the years, Pittsy trained others—Sarah Hooks, Jennie Kitty, Daisy Hodge, and more—who carried on her work. Together they went from house to house, school to school, turning a forgotten corner of Beaufort County into a community with real health care.

When she finally retired in 1976, after more than three decades of service, the townsfolk didn’t just throw her a party. They filled the room with stories, laughter, and tears, each memory proof that Pittsy hadn’t just healed wounds—she had stitched an entire community together.

At heart, Anne Pitts wasn’t just a nurse. She was a counselor, a coach, a cheerleader, and sometimes, a much-needed drill sergeant. Bluffton, Hilton Head, and Daufuskie were never quite the same after she arrived—and they were certainly never the same after she left.
She proved that medicine could be delivered with a firm hand and a soft heart. And maybe, just maybe, with a well-timed slap.

Paul Tollefson is the Director of Tennis at the Hampton Hall Club in Bluffton. He found his love for the Lowcountry in early 2002 after graduating high school and unsure of what career path he was destined towards. After moving from Hilton Head to Bluffton he became enthralled with the history of the town and the people and cultures that called it home for many generations. He has found a passion in writing and enjoys being able to share the stories and pictures of long-time locals. He is the co-creator of the Facebook page “Bluffton Then and Now.”