Olga S. Miercort

Olga S. Miercort

Olga Miercort died at home on July 20th, shortly before her 95th birthday of natural causes after a long decline from dementia, an ironic end for a woman who spent much of her life pursuing intellectual achievement.

She was born September 6, 1917 in Bellflower, California to Gustav and Maria Schlaepfer, the third eldest of five children. After a move to Long Island, New York, the family relocated permanently to Wheat Ridge. Her Swiss immigrant father did not believe that girls "needed" education, so at his insistence she dropped out of high school and went to work doing fine needlework for the Daniels and Fisher Department Store.

She met Frederic Eli Miercort at choir practice at the Wheat Ridge Methodist Church when she was eighteen. They married and had three sons within three years. When their youngest son was nine she decided to pursue her dream of being a nurse. Her first stop was at Saint Luke’s School of Nursing where she was denied entrance because she was married and at age thirty two, deemed "too old."

So, she went to the Emily Griffiths School of Opportunity and became a Licensed Practical Nurse, got a job in Public Health, and enrolled in the University of Colorado Extension Center for sixty hours of basic science. She earned a grade point of 3.7 and took her credentials to the C.U. school of Nursing where again, she was turned down, told that practical nurses did not "socialize well into the professional RN system."

Still undeterred, she enrolled in a new two year program at Metropolitan State College that led to an R.N. Certificate. Yet, she still wanted a degree. She got one in eighteen months at Loretta Heights School of Nursing at Regis College where she said she “finally felt valued." With the mentoring of Loretta Lee Ford, she earned a master’s degree as an advanced practice nurse.

While she was enrolled in a Ph.D program at the University of Denver she was asked to work with a consortium to develop the second "Two by Two" program in the United States at Metro State College. In 1976 the same group established a nurse practitioner program there. She was named chair of the department of Nursing and Health Care Management and remained at Metro State in that position until her retirement.

She was a lifetime member of the Colorado Nurse's Association, past president of the Friends of Nursing and served on the Colorado Nursing Board of directors. In 2002 she was honored as the outstanding nursing alumni at Metro State and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the University of Colorado school of Nursing Alumni.

She was a good mother and grandmother, loving and tolerant, proud of her homemaking skills, and an active member of her community, especially with Eastern Star, the Gray Panthers, and The League of Women Voters.

She was predeceased by her husband, Fred, her brothers Gustav and Fedor and one sister, Isabelle. She is survived by her sons, Frederic A. Miercort of Asheville, North Carolina; Roger D. Miercort, M.D. and wife, Sandy, of Reno, Nevada; Clifford R. Miercort and wife Barbara, of Dallas, Texas. Nine grandchildren: Danielle Miercort of Bremerton, Washington; Craig Miercort, M.D. of St. Petersburg, Florida; Roger Joshua Shrigley Miercort of Reno Nevada; Julia Marie Shrigley Miercort of Reno, Nevada. Kirsten Everett of Seattle, Washington ; Rebecca Aue of Seattle, Washington; Kendra Pierce, R.N. of Snow Camp North Carolina; David Miercort of Los Angeles, California; and Jennifer Turkyilmaz, R.N. of Dallas, Texas; Her sister, Elissa Battaglia, also survives as do numerous nieces and nephews.

The family wishes to express their deep gratitude to Olga’s caregivers, Teri Sellers and Lisa Tapia, for their loving devotion to her.

A memorial service will be held at the Wheat Ridge Methodist Church, 7530 West 38th Ave (38th and Wadsworth), at 11:00 am on Monday, July 30th. Memorial Gifts may be made to The Friends of Nursing Olga Miercort Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 735, Englewood, Colorado 80151, for the CHOICE program for non-traditional nursing students at the College of Health Care Professions at Regis College (formerly Loretto Heights, School of Nursing).