Woman of the Year Award
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It is once again that time of year when St. John Medical Center Foundation invites you to nominate a woman for the 2009 Sister Margaret Anna Cusack Woman of the Year award. Please take a moment to review the guidelines. Nominate a woman who has advanced women, participated in health fundraising activities in this region during this 2009 calendar year. We will announce the 2009 recipient at our 8th annual black tie event on December 12th, 2009 at the Cowlitz Regional Conference Center. Please deliver your
detailed description of her activities by the St. John
Medical Center Foundation If you
have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Foundation. Eligibility
Nomination Process
St. John Medical Center Foundation
Selection: The selection of the Woman of the Year shall be a woman
who is entitled to the honor because of her outstanding service to the
community. The selection is based on the quality and quantity of the
nominee’s activities achieved over her lifetime, however emphasis will
be placed on current year’s activities.
The Past Winners of The Woman of the Year Award: 2007: Gerrie Booth Her commitment to this community has been constant throughout the years. Her support of women’s and children’s issues is a driving force in her life. Her sisters tell me that she treats her nieces and nephews as if they were her own. When people speak of this year’s recipient they use terms like; soft hearted, kind, a business leader, an example of a successful woman in business, and a mentor to others. I had the good fortune to work with her on many occasions on ways to make the Women’s Health Pavilion a safe and caring place for women in this community. She has passion for the healthcare of this community and has worked for more than 20 years toward making St. John a viable, up to date, and compassionate hospital. This past year has been a trying one for her, but she never faltered in her responsibilities. She continued her work with the Pavilion, A Child’s Place, Altrusa, the St. John Foundation and many other deserving charities. Her strength and fortitude are admirable. Her kindness draws us to her. We are a better community because she is here and better people for knowing her.
2006: Arlene Hubble
2005: Pauline Kirchner Those were just a few of the statements made by the many people who nominated our 2005 Woman of the Year. I have gotten to know her personally over the past 4 years and she is truly an inspiration to all of us. She lives to help others. She loves to help others. She is driven by her faith, her love of family and friends and her efforts to make a difference in this community and beyond. Her sister told a story of a young girl who received a new coat from her parents and she wore it to school the next day. After class, her mother asker her what happened to her coat and she replied, “I gave it to a girl who didn’t have one because she was cold.” This wonderful woman knew how to give selflessly to others then and she does so even to this day. She has impacted many women’s live. Father Joseph who is the Founder of the Human Development Foundation in the Klong Toey Slum of Bangkok told us how she helped a young girl from Thailand escape to the U.S. for safety and education. This young woman is now doing excellent work in St. Louis University in her second year majoring in International Business. She and our award recipient serve as models for others in Bangkok and in the US. The Women’s Health Pavilion, St. John Medical Center and St. John Foundation are not the only places where she has made a difference. She is active in the Link program, St. Rose, Symphony Auxiliary and Longview Junior Service League, just to name a few. She believes in women’s health and she has led the Women’s Health Pavilion’s Advisory Council for 5 years. Her strength and passion for this project has made this event possible as she chaired the first event and helped pave the way for those who followed.
2004: Pat Rodman Pat Rodman has dedicated her life to making our community a better place to live for all individuals regardless of their situation. The hospital has not been her only focus. She supports the Emergency Support Shelter, Hospice, Red Cross, Community House, Longview Junior Service League, CASA, United Way, CAP and St. Rose School. Not to mention her tireless efforts with St. John Foundation on the A Child’s Place, Cancer Center, Dialysis Renovation, and her beloved Women’s Health Pavilion. Pat received many nominations from friends, peers, and family. Her friends describe her as a very special person. One that is filled with kindness, generosity, and an ability to inspire her friends to be a part of a vision to help those in need. Her generosity and effort comes from the heart and will leave a lasting impression and difference on our community.
2003: Jackie Evans Evans has been involved in every philanthropic activity that has occurred here at PeaceHealth over the past 13 years, including the early 1990's Trauma Program, the mid-1990's "A Child's Place" and Radiation Simulator Campaign, the late 1990's Women's Health Pavilion and Lower Columbia Regional Cancer Center and, most recently, the 2002-2003 Dialysis Renovation and Expansion Project. Evans' work goes far beyond the hospital, as she is active in many other organizations as well. Programs and projects all over this community bear witness to the generosity and involvement of Evans and her family. Never does she seek and rarely does she accept the accolades that come with another project accomplished and another success achieved.
2002: Kay Sinnett Finally it was time. PeaceHealth Regional CEO Medrice Coluccio stepped to the microphone and, after a few “hints” as to who the honoree might be, announced the winner. Family and friends and those “in the know” had done a masterful job of keeping their secret and the successful nominee Kay Sinnett was completely taken by surprise! As unselfish as she is popular, Kay was thinking about another person as she listened to Medrice serve up her “hints.” Hence, the surprise and Kay’s reaction were all the more spontaneous and exhilarating when the “Woman of the Year” was finally announced. Nominated by good friend and fellow community volunteer Jackie Evans, Kay’s tribute read in part, “Kay uses her exceptional organizational skills and powerful persuasive talent to move people to exceed even their own generosity boundaries in the support of a good cause.” In recognition of Kay’s activities in both Maui and Longview, the tribute stated: “Kay enjoys the same reputation among her Maui friends as she does among her Longview counterparts - if Kay’s involved, and especially if Kay is the chair, the event is going to be a notable success!” In sum, the final sentence of Kay’s nomination read: “Kay has done so much for her beloved Longview that she richly deserves to be the Spirit of Women’s first recipient of its ‘Woman of the Year’ award.”
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Sr.
Rose Marie Nigro was presented with the 2008 Woman of the Year
Award. She has been a long-standing, contributing member of the
community. Throughout these years she has worked tirelessly for the
poor and underserved of our community. Her leadership and support of
community organizations such as the Emergency Support Shelter,
Community Health Partners, Community Action Program, Community House
on Broadway, Pathways 20/20, and the Free Clinic have all positively
impacted service to the poor and vulnerable. She also began the
youth mentorship program and the first parish nursing program in the
community. 
A sense of calm that surrounds her and spreads throughout any room that she enters. When she speaks, people pay attention. When she smiles, it’s genuine.
Heroes
come in many forms; many shapes and sizes and all ages. Our community is
blessed to have among us a number of heroes. In past years we have honored
such heroes as Kay Sinnett, Jackie Evans, Pat Rodman and Pauline Kirchner.
This year we will add another hero to our list, Arleen Hubble. Arleen is a
woman of the people. She’s not a woman that is in the forefront. She is
a woman who is known by many because of her work behind the scenes with
women and community events. To say she is a survivor is an understatement.
Some people merely survive others take their experiences and try to change
the world for those who will follow us when our time here is done. That is
what makes a hero. Being diagnosed with cancer can crush your spirit - but
that’s not what happened here. She took her diagnosis and beat it. And
then she took her experience and helped others. She knows the difficulties
women face from the moment they hear the word cancer. She offers support
to ANYONE who is going through cancer. She is at the side of patients when
they are making tough decisions, she is at their side when they have
surgery, she is at their side when they are going through chemo, she is at
their side helping them with their appearance after chemo and surgery.
Every waking moment is spent helping others. She is an inspiration to all
of us - she is an example of a hero, a woman we are privileged to call our
friend.
A quiet presence, selfless in her giving, humble in her involvement, the best mom…ever! A person of high moral integrity and honor. She truly knows the meaning of friendship and devotion to family and friends. She does many things, unknown to others, to help people just because she cares.
Pat Rodman was named the 2004 Woman of the Year at the
“Red Star Affaire” on December 10, 2004.
The St. John Medical Center Foundation named Jackie Evans
(pictured here on the right) as the 2003 Woman of the Year at their second annual "A Star
Affaire" event on December 12th, held to benefit the Sister Margaret Anna Cusack Women's Health Pavilion. Evans received the honor because of her work toward making her community a better place and for her passion for healthcare.
The first annual event to celebrate the Women’s Health Pavilion could not have been more festive and successful. The highlight of the evening, preceded by an exciting auction of eighteen special packages, was the naming of the first-ever “Woman of the Year.” The anticipation was evident early on and grew steadily as the evening progressed through dinner and the auction.
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