It is with great sorrow that Wagner College announces the passing of Dr. Evelyn Lindfors Spiro ’49 H’92 on Saturday, March 23. She was 90 years old.
In 2017, she was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Donald W. Spiro ’49 H’88, chairman emeritus and lifetime member of the Wagner College Board of Trustees.
“The Spiros have meant so much to our Wagner community, and we are particularly grateful for Evelyn’s contributions. We have indeed lost a good friend,” said Dr. Warren Procci, chairman of Wagner College’s Board of Trustees. “We all send our sympathies to the entire Spiro family.”
“This is a sad day for the Spiro family and for Wagner College,” said President Richard Guarasci. “Evelyn was a very proud alumna, and she loved the nursing program in particular.”
In 2005, the Wagner College Board of Trustees renamed the college’s nursing program as the Evelyn Lindfors Spiro School of Nursing, recognizing the lifetime contributions of Evelyn and Don.
“The School of Nursing has lost its namesake but will forever value her love of nursing and her desire to position Wagner’s nursing program at the forefront of quality education,” said Dr. Patricia Tooker, dean of the Evelyn L. Spiro School of Nursing. “We will continue to make her proud, each and every day.”
Evelyn Lindfors met Donald Spiro when they were students at Wagner College, both graduating in 1949. They married and, together, raised and nurtured three children: Donald, a 1975 Wagner graduate; Corylee; and Kimberly, currently a Wagner College trustee.
Evelyn was one of the very earliest graduates of the college’s nursing program. She went on to become the youngest operating room supervising nurse in the history of Staten Island Hospital.
“The list of what wouldn’t have been at Wagner College, had it not been for the Spiros, is enormous,” wrote Chaplain Lyle Guttu in his 1992 citation for Evelyn’s honorary doctorate. “Evelyn Spiro reminds us all that sharing one’s good fortune is essential to sustain the foundation of a civilized society. She has demonstrated this repeatedly, from her support for the Hospice program nationally, to her leadership role in the renovation of Carnegie Hall and, most significantly, to the renaissance of Wagner College.”
Family visitation to memorialize Evelyn L. Spiro will be this Thursday, March 28 from 2 to 7 p.m. at the Community Church of Smoke Rise, 38 North Road, Kinnelon, N.J. Key the address in to Google Maps, or your navigator. Also see the direction notes on the church website.