Fleming College

We met Jeannie 23 years ago, in September 1998 when we adopted one of her retired Birmans at the Naramist Cattery that she founded when illness forced her retirement from SSFC. There was rarely a day when we did not speak and/or see one another. In the weeks preceding Jeannie’s passing, I asked her what was she most proud of in her life. Without hesitation, she replied “Nursing”. Jeannie’s transformation from a timid girl from Kirkland Lake to a nurse and a nursing instructor was shaped by the Sisters of St. Joseph at St. Mike’s School of Nursing. We often talked about how their focus on self-discipline, commitment to excellence in patient care, and the spiritual, mental, and physical health of the nurses in training—the person as a whole—informed her character and values for the remainder of her career and life. Jeannie was an intensely private person, fiercely self-reliant, kind, and empathetic but possessed an uncanny ability to identify and deflate inflated egos.

She was also justifiably proud of the students she mentored. Many times during Jeannie’s nine-year journey with cancer we encountered nurses who had been her students. They spoke well of her, saying that she had high expectations of them which served them well in their professional lives. Her training and natural inclination led her to see each person under her care as someone who was more than his condition or disease, to really see that person, to really see what was needed and then do it.

We miss her terribly but feel she would be very happy to know that we are helping in a small way to foster the same excellence in nursing in her name that she demonstrated.

Awarded to a Full-Time Practical Nursing Student, who demonstrates professionalism, compassion, and dedication during their interaction with Patients, Staff, and Peers. Student must be in good academic standing and demonstrate Financial Need.