Wanda Hiestand

Wanda Hiestand was born on 1/6/1926 and passed away on 12/9/23, at the age of 97. Born in Granite City IL to Stella Soboleski and Kazmer (Kazimir) Kowalewich, she spent her entire childhood there and attended Granite City High School. After graduation, she attended St. Elizabeth Hospital of Nursing and received her diploma in 1947 to become a practicing nurse. Although she could have attended college on a musical scholarship, nursing was considered a practical choice for a woman in the 1940’s, having grown up during the depression. Wanda was an excellent trumpet player and accomplished accordion player, both popular instruments in Polish families. Later in life she took up the piano as well. Wanda married in 1945 and moved to St. Louis MO where her husband Dale Hiestand attended Washington University. Her first child, Gregory Kazmer Hiestand, was born there in 1948. They soon moved to New York City for Dale to attend graduate school at Columbia University. No one in her family had left Illinois, so she was considered a pioneer! Her second child, Susan Lee Hiestand, was born in NY, NY in 1951. In 1953 they were able to purchase a new home in Seaford, Long Island (NY), due to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s GI bill, which provided funds for Veterans of World War II. In 1962 they moved to Piermont NY, where many of her lifelong friendships were formed. She also later lived in Nyack NY, and Suffern NY. Her final home was at Cedar Crest, a retirement community in Pompton Plains NJ. She had many friends there in her later life and was active in a Memoir writing class, which were published in a monthly magazine for the residents, was an officer of the Democratic Club of Cedar Crest and served on their Residential Health Care Committee. Wanda had a wide-ranging career as a hospital nurse, school nurse, public health nurse, and ultimately as a nurse educator. She received her B.S.N. (Bachelor of Science in Nursing), M.Ed. (Masters of Education), and Ed.D (Doctor of Education) all from Teachers College at Columbia University, New York, New York between 1967-1977. From 1977-1987 she was an Assistant Professor of Nursing at New York University (NYU) in the graduate department. In 1988 she accepted a position in the graduate department at Pace University, NY as a Full Professor. She became the director of their Research Unit at the Leinhard School of Nursing at Pace University in Pleasantville NY, and helped to develop a Masters Program for nurses who wanted to advance their education. Her area of expertise, in addition to teaching and developing the graduate nursing program, was the history of midwifery. Her doctoral dissertation researched the history of midwifery in the US up to 1965, during which time midwifery transitioned into professional Nurse Midwifery. Wanda was a feminist who championed the accomplishment and inventions of women, as well as their rights, specifically regarding health and reproduction issues. She considered Margaret Sanger, who is credited with the formation of the International Planned Parenthood Foundation, to be a personal inspiration and role model. Wanda traveled the world both as a professional and enthusiastic tourist. In her professional capacity, she delivered scholarly presentations in Madrid, Spain; Bolzano, Italy; Canberra, Australia; Manama, Bahrain; Jerusalem, Israel, as well as throughout the US where she was often asked to speak. Wanda’s travel companions included her sister Arlene Haldeman, and her colleague Ronnie O’Day. She had a love of adventure and spent summers studying at Stanford University in California, and in the Netherlands, as well as numerous adventures with her sister Arlene. Many pictures were taken of the duo on top of camels in Egypt, at the harbor in Sydney Australia, and riding the rails through the Canadian Rockies. Her accomplishments are too numerous to list them all. She was awarded The Presidents Award from The American Nursing Association for the History of Nursing in 2005. She was inducted into the Teachers College of Columbia University Hall of Fame 2003. She was also listed in Who’s Who in American Nursing 1990-91, and Who’s Who in American Education 2007-08. She received the Distinguished Nurse Researcher of 1987 award from the Foundation of the New York State Nurses Association. She also served on the board of Planned Parenthood of Westchester/Rockland counties, was Co-director of the Historical Nursing Archives for Westchester/Rockland counties, was Archivist for the American Association for the History of Nursing and was Co-Director and consultant for Historical Archives for Pace University Lienhard School of Nursing. She gave generously of her time and knowledge to many associations until her death. She published 30 scholarly articles during her tenure as a professor as well as presented 23 invitational speeches/presentations relating to nursing history, nurses’ and midwives’ innovations and inventions, ethics in nursing and medicine, and numerous other related topics. She was a wonderful mother and grandmother to her children and grandchildren, who will all greatly miss her empathy, compassion, and the loving energy she gave so generously. She was also well known as an accomplished cook to the delight of her friends and family. She was a skilled seamstress and was an avid gardener with beautiful flower and vegetable gardens in her earlier years. She will be greatly missed by her Moon Sisters, who met monthly to celebrate, inspire, and support each other. She is preceded in death by her parents Kazmer Kowalewich and Stella Soboleski Kowalewich, her brothers Walter and Stanley Kowalewich, and her sister Arlene Haldeman, as well as her son Gregory Hiestand. She is survived by her daughter Susan Lee Levy, and her grandchildren Miles Levy, Stephanie Levy-Gotthard, Andrew Hiestand, and David Hiestand, and her great-grandchildren Aurelia Gotthard and Magnus Gotthard. A memorial will be announced at a later date. She will be interred at Rockland Cemetery in Sparkill NY. May she rest in peace and be remembered lovingly.

Tributes

Wanda Hiestand

January 6, 1926 - December 9, 2023