Passage

Edith Hyde DiSandro (1902-1998)">

Passage

Edith Hyde DiSandro (1902-1998), R.N., passed away in April. A native of Haddonfield, NJ, she received a diploma from the School of Nursing at Episcopal Hospital in 1923. In the 1920s, she served in a variety of supervisory positions at several Philadelphia-area hospitals, including Episcopal, Bryn Mawr, and Hahnemann. She worked in private duty during the Depression years. As head nurse at the U.S. Army Hospital in Phoenixville, PA from 1943 to 1947, she received the Army Commendation ribbon for "outstanding and meritorious service." Later she was the chief nurse at the Veterans Administration Hospital at Lebanon, PA.

Mrs. DiSandro’s association with the University of Pennsylvania spanned nearly forty years. While chief nurse at Lebanon, she began to take nursing and college collateral courses in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree, which she earned in 1952. Also at this time, she became administrative assistant to Dean Theresa I. Lynch, helping Dr. Lynch set up the School of Nursing when it became independent from the School of Education in 1950.

In 1956, Mrs. DiSandro left the School to become supervisor at Eastern Psychiatric Institute while working on a Master’s degree in education with a major in psychiatric nursing, which she received from Penn in 1958. After spending several years as director of nursing at Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point, NJ, she returned to her post as assistant to Dean Lynch and, later, Dean Mereness, until her retirement in 1969.

In addition to her distinguished nursing career, Mrs. DiSandro established an endowed fellowship fund for graduate students at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and has been a supporter of the Center for the Study of the History of Nursing.