Goodbye, Gators
Sandra Seymour
Sandra Seymour
College of Nursing Professor Emeritus and longtime faculty member Sandra Seymour, Ph.D., A.R.N.P., passed away peacefully Oct. 24 after a three-month battle with lung cancer. She was 69.
“All of us in the College of Nursing have lost an amazing friend, colleague and teacher,” said College of Nursing Dean Kathleen Ann Long, Ph.D., R.N. “Dr. Seymour had an incredible passion for nursing, for people and for life, all of which she shared with others. Her legacy will certainly live on in the many students she taught and the patients she cared for, and certainly in all of us who were fortunate to call her a friend and colleague.”
Seymour earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia, her master’s degree in medical/surgical nursing and postmaster’s certificate as a family nurse practitioner from UF, and her Ph.D. from Florida State University.
Seymour came to UF in 1969 as a professor of medical-surgical nursing and was one of the few faculty members to work with all of the College of Nursing deans. She served as president of the College’s Faculty Organization from 2007 to 2009 and chair of the department of women’s, children’s and family nursing from 1996 to 1998.
As a family nurse practitioner, Seymour provided patient care at ACORN Clinic, UF Shands Eastside Community Practice and the College of Nursing’s Archer Family Health Care. Most recently, she taught courses in advanced practice nursing until her retirement in 2009.
Seymour was a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church and the Gainesville Harmony Show Chorus. She loved kayaking on the North Florida rivers.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1521 NW 13th St., Gainesville, FL 32605.
William “Bill” Donnelly
William “Bill” Donnelly Jr.
Longtime UF pediatric pathologist William Henry “Bill” Donnelly Jr., M.D., died peacefully Sept. 30 after a yearlong battle with a brain tumor. He was 76.
“We have lost a great friend, colleague and teacher,” said College of Medicine Dean Michael L. Good, M.D. “With his passing we have lost the wisdom he possessed and shared, and the special touch he had when dealing with childhood diseases and the people whose lives were affected by them.”
Donnelly came to UF in 1971, and was a professor in both the department of pathology, immunology and laboratory medicine and the department of pediatrics.
He was known among both students and colleagues as a passionate teacher, winning the College of Medicine’s “Teacher of the Year” and “Outstanding Basic Science Teacher” awards.
Highly regarded by colleagues around the country, Donnelly was elected president of the Society of Pediatric Pathology in 1991. He served on the UF Faculty Senate and on several College of Medicine, university and hospital committees aimed at improving medical education and patient care.
In 2005, Donnelly became professor emeritus and attempted — but failed — retirement, his colleagues joked. He continued practicing and teaching residents through 2011.
Around UF and the College of Medicine, Dr. Donnelly was known as someone who went out of his way to help others.
“He would help people get to work or even bring food over to someone who was unable to get what he or she needed. Or he would intercede for someone and call to get help,” said Edward Wilkinson, M.D., vice chair of the department of pathology and a friend of Donnelly’s. “He was a very conscientious person and took the role of being physician in a very serious way.”
That quality was on display even near the end.
“He made the effort to come into the hospital even when he was quite ill, to assist faculty and staff to make sure that there were no loose ends,” Wilkinson said. “He was determined that if he could close any loose ends he would. He was a very special person and we’re going to miss him. There’s nobody like him.”