Nursing alumna Evelyn Lindfors Spiro ’49 H’92 died on March 23, 2019. She was 90 years old.
Her husband, Dr. Donald W. Spiro ’49 H’88, chairman emeritus and lifetime member of the Wagner College Board of Trustees, predeceased her in 2017.
“The Spiros have meant so much to our Wagner community, and we are particularly grateful for Evelyn’s contributions,” said Dr. Warren Procci ’68 H’17, chair of the Board of Trustees.
In 2005, the College’s nursing program was named the Evelyn Lindfors Spiro School of Nursing, recognizing the lifetime contributions of Evelyn and Don.
“The School of Nursing 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 ’79 M’95 D’16, 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. Evelyn was one of the earliest graduates of the nursing program. She went on to become the youngest operating room supervising nurse in the history of Staten Island Hospital. She and Donald had three children: Donald, a 1975 Wagner graduate; Corylee; and Kimberly, a Wagner College trustee.
“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.”