Campus Currents

Professor Remembered for Caring Ways

Longtime Walla Walla College nursing professor Lois Whitchurch died at her home in Troutdale, Ore., on Jan. 10, 2002, after a six-month battle with breast cancer. Her death was mourned by faculty, staff, and the hundreds of nursing students and alumni who attended her funeral.

“She will be sorely missed by all of us,” says Lucille Krull, dean of the School of Nursing on the Portland campus.

Whitchurch began teaching in the School of Nursing in 1967. For the past 14 years, she held the position of student program advisor, scheduled nursing classes, handled registration, and was in charge of recruiting new nursing students.

Whitchurch was the academic advisor for all nursing students, who say Whitchurch always made them feel welcome and cared for. According to Krull, this is a significant factor in the large number of students currently applying to the nursing program.

“Her strength was her ability to get along with anyone,” says Krull. “She had a real gift for one-on-one communication.”

In 2001, Whitchurch was diagnosed with a rapidly spreading form of breast cancer. During her illness she had more than 400 visitors, and two weeks before she died, students planted a magnolia tree in her honor.

At her funeral, John Brunt, vice president for academic administration said, “The Walla Walla College School of Nursing is a different place, and a better place, and always will be, because Lois invested her life in it.”

Whitchurch graduated from Hinsdale Sanitarium and Hospital Nursing School in 1962. She was a 1965 wwc nursing graduate and held a master’s degree in nursing education from Loma Linda University.

She is survived by husband, David Eugene Whitchurch; sons, Michael David and Jonathan; brothers John and Ron Smith of Lafayette, Ind., Jim Smith of Montacello, Ind., and Wilbur Smith of Delphi, Ind.; sisters Martha Harding and Sue Jones of Salem, Ind., Joanne Martin of Bedford, Ind., and Dolly Bennett of Fort Collins, Colo. W

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