Send us your news!
We'd love to be able to update your fellow alumni, or even just to get your latest contact information so you stay connected to your alma mater. Please send your news to the Office of Alumni Relations at alumni@rush.edu, by phone at (312) 942-2569, or by mail at 1700 W. Van Buren St., Suite 250, Chicago, IL 60612.
St. Luke’s
HELEN GIANUTSO ROBERTSON, 1946B, of Ashland, Wis., has written a brief account of her experiences with St. Luke's Hospital School of Nursing. Complete with historical photos and details about the curriculum and social life at the school, Robertson's memoir also includes details about her life after St. Luke's. Please download the PDF here.
LILLIAN TAPIA LONGINOW, 1957, of Oak Park, Ill., was featured in an Oct. 2009 story published in the Wednesday Journal, the weekly newspaper of Oak Park and River Forest, Ill. Longinow participated in the 50-yard freestyle and 50-yard backstroke events at the Six-County Senior Olympics, held last summer in Park Ridge, Ill. Longinow told the Wednesday Journal, “Swimming has given me a dramatic change in self-perception that I can try new things, which I have done.”
Presbyterian
CATHERINE KRATTEBOL LITT, 1935, turned 95 years old in 2009 and lives independently in Antigo, Wis. Her husband passed away at the age of 96 in 2008, five weeks before their 70th wedding anniversary. Litt writes that prior to her retirement from Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in 1971, she was a nurse on 2 Pavilion.
Presbyterian-St. Luke’s
MELINDA FRASER-BURTON, 1962, of Aurora, Ill., has worked in many fields of nursing, management and administration and had a private counseling practice for 29 years. She has four children and seven grandchildren and is now retired.
Rush
JUDITH J. McCANN, MS 1978, DNSc 1991, was honored as the 2009 Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Nurses Alumni Association Distinguished Alumna at the Sept. 25 Homecoming celebration on the Rush University Medical Center Campus. McCann is a professor in the Department of Adult Health and Gerontological Nursing at Rush University College of Nursing and a research scientist with the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging. McCann is an internationally recognized expert in the care of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. For more information, visit www.con.rushalumni.org/mccann.
RITA ALLEN BRENNAN, MS 1987, DNP 2008, of Lombard, Ill., was selected to present at the 4th International Conference on Patient- and Family-Centered Care: Partnerships for Safety and Quality last August in Philadelphia. Brennan presented an interactive poster presentation entitled, “Assessing Family Centered Pediatric Care in a Community Hospital Setting,” highlighting best practices in patient- and family-centered care. Brennan is the outcomes manager of Women and Children’s Services at Central DuPage Hospital.
SHEILA RAE JESEK-HALE, DNSc 1994, of Decatur, Ill., is retiring from her position as associate professor of nursing at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Ill. Jesek-Hale has taught at Illinois Wesleyan for 23 years, first as assistant professor of nursing before being promoted to associate professor in 2004.
CHARLENE “CHARLIE” WINTERS, PhD 1998, is an associate professor of nursing at Montana State University and co-editor of Rural Nursing: Concepts, Theory, and Practice (3rd ed.)(Springer).
MELISSA A. BURDI, BSN 2003, of North Aurora, Ill., earned her master’s degree from University of Illinois at Chicago School of Nursing in the spring of 2009. Burdi is a professional development consultant at Central DuPage Hospital, where her recent responsibilities have focused on serving as a leader within the Department of Professional Development, charged with the maintenance of daily operations. Burdi sits on the board of directors for the Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Nurses Alumni Association.
JOSEPH DeBONIS, BSN 2009, was called into active duty with the United States Army. He departed on Oct. 14 for officer training, after which he would be assigned to an Army regional medical center. He wrote, “As I transition to a career as a professional nurse, I take with me the confidence that I will be an excellent one because of my education at Rush. [Rush’s] program challenged me every class, every quarter and every clinical.”
