Vera Marian Fink

We are poorer. On August 19, Vera Marian Fink, 94, died. People who had the privilege of knowing Vera will miss her easy laugh, her intelligence and her joy at being alive. We will also miss the strong Kentucky accent she carried with her all her life from her birthplace of Louisville.

Vera grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, with her brothers Frank Jr., Jim, and Eugene. Vera’s parents Frank Sr. and Dorothy had no formal education beyond high school, but they were avid readers, and education, like duty and hard work, were prized values. Vera wanted to learn, but a farm girl growing up in the Depression didn’t have many options. The Ursuline Academy offered an education in nursing, and she took it.

Vera obtained a diploma in nursing from Mercy Hospital School of Nursing in Ohio. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Edgecliff College in Cincinnati, after which she did a postgraduate program in nursing at the University of Cincinnati. Wanting even more education, Vera moved to Seattle, and through a combination of loans, scholarships and wages from night work, she was able to enroll in the Maternal/Child Nursing program at the University of Washington in Seattle. While pursuing her education, she worked as a nurse, a supervising nurse, adjunct faculty in a school of nursing and in various administrative positions in nursing, always being entrusted with greater responsibilities. She graduated in 1975 with a Master of Science degree.

Jody DeMeyer, St. Luke’s first nurse administrator, recruited Vera to join St. Luke’s as its second nurse in administration. Her task: build the maternal child department. After graduation in 1975, Vera joined St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center as an assistant and then associate director of nursing. She advanced to Divisional Director of Maternal/Child Services and was appointed Administrator of the Centers for Women and Children’s Services in 1994.

When people discuss Vera’s leadership it is almost always preceded by the word ‘strong’. St. Luke’s afforded Vera the opportunity to shape its maternal/child Department, which was exciting because advances in OB and Pediatric medicine were coming so fast.

In her more than two decades with St. Luke’s Vera helped make St. Luke’s the only Level III NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) in Idaho. (There are now four, but, building on Vera’s work, St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital is now the only Level IV NICU in the state.).

Vera led St. Luke’s involvement in building the CARES (Children At Risk Evaluation Services) program, a nationally recognized program for child sexual abuse detection. She also helped establish a NIDCAP (Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program) training center for NICUs around the world. As associate faculty at BSU (Nursing) and one of the first faculty for University of Washington’s satellite nursing-child program, Vera made sure that cutting edge science in her field was incorporated in St. Luke’s OB & Pediatrics departments. When Vera retired from St. Luke’s in 1998, she retired from the largest delivering hospital in Idaho with over 4000 births annually.

Vera’s passion for her patients, her profession, and her community, including her beloved Broncos, didn’t end after a hard day of work. Vera served as board member and eventually, shortly after her retirement, she became Chair of the Lutheran Social Services (LSS) Board as its operations in Idaho, Oregon and Washington merged into one organization.

Nursing and basketball. Vera loved basketball. She held seasons tickets for Bronco games and attended games avidly until the last year of her life. And she never missed March Madness, although the Louisville team occasionally disappointed her.

After her service on LSS, Vera wanted to do more. So, she went back to work at Call St. Luke’s, the after-hour service for St. Luke’s clinics and hospitals. That department is heavy on tech, and Vera learned it all.

When one accomplishes what Vera did, there are bound to be some awards. A partial list includes Boss of the Year from Boise’s American Businesswomen’s Association, the St. Luke’s President’s Award, the March of Dimes White Rose Award and one of the first Women and Children’s Association TWIN Awards.

Vera never married or had children, but she was a member of many families in Boise. Vera was determined to remain independent her entire life, and researched several retirement communities, including The Terraces, which was just coming to Boise. As one of the first residents, Vera quickly became a favorite of staff and the other retirees. She maintained her independent living status for many years and only recently moved into assisted living where she died.

Vera was preceded in death by parents Frank F. Fink, Sr. and Dorothy Bauer Fink, brothers Frank and Eugene, and sisters-in-law Christine Fink and Brenda Fink. Vera’s beloved cats, Mugs and Max, also predeceased her.

Vera is survived by her brother Jim, nephews David Michael Fink of Cub Run KY, and James M. Fink of Foley, AL, nieces Claudia Ann Evans of Georgetown, KY, Lori Jane Noble of Corbin, KY., Teresa Schnurr and Donna Striet of Louisville, Ky., many grand nephews and nieces, and so many devoted friends.

Vera’s ashes will be interred with her parents in Louisville at a ceremony in October, date to be announced. A celebration of Vera’s life will be held in Boise, date to be announced. Donations in her honor and memory may be made to Lutheran Community Services Northwest, Friends of Nursing at Boise State University, St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital, or a charity of your choice.

Vera understood a key precept of pediatric medicine – children are not smaller adults: the same things don’t necessarily work. She championed a hospital devoted to children. Boise now has one!

“Backward, turn backward, O Time, in your flight

Make me a child again just for tonight!”