Rosemary Finney Parker ’61, Sept. 21, 1938 -r. 21, 2014. Parker, 75, a resident of San Jose died on March 21, 2014 after a long illness. She is survived by her husband, Steve, her daughter, Shannon Hane (Jeff), son, Jay Parker (Shannon), and her beloved grandson, Zack Stephen Hane, nephew Kevin Finney (Carmen), niece, Kelly Finney Pruitt (Kirk), brother, Tim Finney (Dana) and her best friend from grammar school, Nancy Wisdom Altieri.
She was born in Oakland and was raised between San Jose and Salinas, graduating from Palma High School in Salinas in 1956. She graduated from the O’Connor Hospital School of Nursing in 1960 as a member of the nursing class that was the first women to attend the University of Santa Clara. They were hung in effigy from trees near the entrance on their first day of school.
She began her 49 year career in Critical Care Nursing in the Emergency Room at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and then moved on to the Post Surgical Recovery Room at O’Connor Hospital where she was made Head Nurse and In service Instructor in the first ICU/CCU in the Santa Clara Valley in 1964 at the age of 24. She then moved on to Stanford Medical Center as an Intensive Care nurse on Dr. Shumway’s heart transplant team. When the surgeons began doing heart surgery away from Stanford she became the Head Nurse of the new ICU/CCU at SCV Medical Center where she remained until her daughter was born. From that point on she worked only part-time as being a super wife and mother became her true life’s work. By working part-time in all of the hospitals in the Valley as they started their heart surgery programs she was able to keep up with the always changing advances in heart surgery. She eventually settled at Good Samaritan Hospital as a staff nurse and instructor In the Cardiovascular Surgical Intensive Care unit and then as Coordinator of Patient Care for the San Jose Cardiac Surgery Group until she retired in 2006.
Her greatest pleasure and joy was raising her children to be happy and successful adults. She worked at their schools,supported their interests and made sure there was a home dinner on the table every night so all the family members could report on their day in school. The family enjoyed extensive travel through out the world through her insistence.
Rosemary enjoyed politics and was an avid reader, gardener, and cook. She was a supportive friend, a good listener and advisor to many. In retirement she served on the Board of Directors of Planetree Health Library, traveled extensively with her husband and enjoyed her grandson immensely.