A life of service to nursing and the community.Enyth Muriel Holdgate's record is one of exceptional achievement and personal fulfillment, an extraordinary life of service to nursing and the community. She will be remembered as a much loved and respected NZNA president, serving from 1968-1972. Born in 1915, she left school in Auckland during the worst days of the Depression. Restricted government spending Government spending or government expenditure consists of government purchases, which can be financed by seigniorage, taxes, or government borrowing. It is considered to be one of the major components of gross domestic product. meant nursing training was curtailed to the very minimum, with priority given to more mature students. Thus her ambition to become a nurse was frustrated, and instead she embarked on a business career. She was finally accepted for nurse training at New Plymouth New Plymouth, city (1996 pop. 48,871), West Coast North Island, New Zealand, on the Tasman Sea. It is a port and a major center for dairying. Other industries include natural gas processing and metal working. Hospital, graduating as a registered nurse in 1944. Later she gained a diploma in nursing A Diploma in Nursing or Nursing Diploma is an entry-level tertiary education nursing degree. In the United States, this type of degree is usually awarded by hospital-based nursing schools. and registration as a maternity nurse. After various appointments in New Plymouth, including promotion to nursing sister, Enyth moved to Auckland in 1947 to join the district nursing service. She nursed overseas for two years at the London Chest Hospital and the Royal Hospital in Richmond. In 1954 she was appointed supervisor of the district nursing service in Auckland. Her final appointment was as supervisor of the Extramural extramural /ex·tra·mu·ral/ (-mur´il) situated or occurring outside the wall of an organ or structure. extramural situated or occurring outside the wall of an organ or structure. Hospital of the Auckland Hospital Board. Throughout her career, Enyth was very active in NZNA affairs, both locally and nationally. She was branch secretary, treasurer, Dominion executive member and on the nursing services committee. On erection as NZNA president in 1968, her first message was one of sympathy to those who had lost friends and family in the sinking of the Wahine wa·hi·ne also va·hi·ne n. 1. Hawaii A Polynesian woman. 2. Sports A woman surfer. [Hawaiian, from Proto-Polynesian *fafine. , as well as thanks to nurses who assisted the afflicted af·flict tr.v. af·flict·ed, af·flict·ing, af·flicts To inflict grievous physical or mental suffering on. [Middle English afflighten, from afflight, . She was the South-East Asia South-East Asia n → le Sud-Est asiatique South-East Asia south n → Südostasien nt South-East Asia n → and Pacific representative for the Commonwealth Nurses' Federation from its inception in 1969 until 1975; a member of the standing committee on health for the National Council of Women and its chair from 1974 to 1978. She played a key role in nurses' economic welfare and in nursing education as a member of the education committee of the Nurses and Midwives Board. Upon retirement in 1978, she received NZNA's award of honour. Beyond the world of nursing, she contributed valued community service and expertise to the Auckland Division of the Cancer Society, the Hospice Foundation of Auckland and the Trust for Intellectually Handicapped Children. She was a foundation member and trustee of the Erie Redwood Endowment which contributes funds to provide scholarships to nurses from the Auckland region The Auckland Region is one of the sixteen regions of New Zealand, named for Auckland City, the large city at its heart. . She was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire British Empire, overseas territories linked to Great Britain in a variety of constitutional relationships, established over a period of three centuries. The establishment of the empire resulted primarily from commercial and political motives and emigration movements in 1973. When Enyth married Keith Holdgate in 1963, a recently widowed Auckland consultant physician, she inherited a ready-made family: five children and spouses, and, eventually, 16 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren. Almost in her 90th year, Enyth announced she was joining the "knowledge wave" and would not be left behind while the technological world advanced. Having purchased a lap top, it was not long before she was surfing the net, and emailing friends here and overseas. Enyth's mind was alert and keen until her very last day, April 15. She read widely, rejoiced in the beauty of verse with her poetry group, kept abreast of local and world news and could converse with authority on almost any subject. Enyth looked upon life as a gift from God to be returned to him at the end. Obituary (abridged) by family member |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion