At the Maryland Nurses Association (MNA) 121st Annual Convention on September 27, 2024, MNA Board Member and MNA District 4 President, Dr. Rosalie Griffith honored our departed nurse colleagues. The following nurses were honored with the Nightingale Tribute.
Linield Henry Bennett
Patrina Best
Pamela Burig
Audrey Adrian Byrd
Christine Allen Cox
Joanne Elizabeth Coyle
Barbara Jane Hurt Dangler
Margaret Regan Dean
Marilyn Goldwater
Elizabeth Jean Holloway
Diane Johnson
Susan Louise Bayer Jordan
Sharon Layman
Sonia Argentina Quintero
Patrice Robins
Cindy Sargent
Lisa Ann Sauter
Margaret Rose Tesner
Margaret Woodland
The fore-mentioned departed registered nurses of Maryland were also honored at the American Nurses Association (ANA) Membership Assembly on June 28, 2024, in Washington, D.C.
If you are aware of the death of a nurse in Maryland, please send their name and date of death to [email protected], with Nightingale Tribute in the subject heading. Please note that the departed nurse does not need to be a member of MNA to be honored with the Nightingale Tribute.
On the Saturday morning of June 23, 2005, a meeting of the 2005 House of Delegates sanctioned the Nightingale Tribute as a way of honoring nurses at the end of their life’s journey. With the consent of the house, ANA adopted this tribute as its official ceremony for honoring nurses who are no longer with us. Nurses present at the house were asked to step forward to the microphone and prepare at the appointed time to say the nurse’s name and the name of the CMA in which the nurse held membership.
ANA has thus instituted this “Nurses in Memoriam” book, which is displayed, here at,
ANA Headquarters
8515 Georgia Avenue Ste. 400
Silver Spring, MD 20910
At every ANA Membership Assembly there will be a white rose and white candle placed before the dais. It is the custom, approved by the 2005 house that anytime the house is in session, the white candle will be lit and will remain lit until the house adjourns.
During the 2005 house, Barbara Blakeney, ANA House of Delegates Chair, invited Janice Jones, President of the Kansas State Nurses Association, and Duane Jaeger of the Kansas State Nurses Association, to the lower dais to assist with the ceremony. Janice is the architect of the tribute and Duane is the architect of the poem which is included in the tribute.
Nursing is a calling, a lifestyle, a way of living. Nurses here today honor our deceased ANA colleagues. Their life as a nurse is not remembered by their years as a nurse, but rather by the difference each of them made by stepping into people’s lives…by special moments.
By Duane Jaeger MSN, RN
When a calming, quiet presence was all that was needed, she was there.
In the excitement and miracle of birth or in the mystery and loss of life, she was there.
When a silent glance could uplift a patient, family member or friend, she was there.
At those times when the unexplainable needed to be explained, she was there.
When the situation demanded a swift foot and sharp mind, she was there.
When a gentle touch, a firm push, or an encouraging word was needed, she was there.
In choosing the best one from a family’s “Thank You” box of chocolates, she was there.
To witness humanity—its beauty, in good times and bad, without judgment, she was there.
To embrace the woes of the world, willingly, and offer hope, she was there.
And now, that it is time to be at the Greater One’s side, she is there.
Our colleagues, we honor you this day and present this white rose and light this candle to symbolize our honor and appreciation for being our nurse colleagues.
