Mary Joyce Rosenthal

Mary Joyce Rosenthal RN, MS, ET, CRNA was born Mary Joyce Sievers on June 5, 1938 in NY City. She attended the Queens Hospital Center School of Nursing in NYC and received her RN degree in 1958. She subsequently worked in her alma mater ER. In 1962 she married Daniel Rosenthal, a young resident in Surgery who was working in the same hospital.

In 1964, she graduated with honors from the Downstate University School of Nursing Anesthesia. In 1967 she left practice and devoted herself to her growing family which included daughters Gina, Liza, and Becky. Joyce traveled with her husband after he joined the Army, and always created a warm, loving and comfortable home for her family.

In 1982, with her children grown, Joyce decided to return to the nursing arena. She attended the Cleveland Clinic School of Enterostomal Therapy and upon graduation was hired by the Baptist Memorial Hospital in San Antonio where she continued to work for the next 27 years. Her sudden and untimely death on January 12, 2008 occurred as she was preparing to embark with her husband on a cruise to celebrate their 46th anniversary. She was an exemplary mother and a close friend and confidant to her three daughters. To her husband she was simply a marvelous wife.

To the numerous patients she cared for and helped in the hospital and her clinics, she was looked upon by many as an angel. She organized and attended support groups for patients who had undergone complicated intestinal and urological surgery. She received numerous accolades from her Hospital, the City of San Antonio, and in 2004 was named Enterostomal Nurse of the Year by her peers.

Many General, Colorectal and Urological surgeons in San Antonio considered her a master in her field. She leaves behind an inconsolable husband, three adoring daughters and her granddaughter, Zoe.

If you read this note, friend, please take a minute to pray for her and for her grieving family.