The unexpected and tragic loss of Mary Guo, a stellar graduate student in the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Doctor of Nursing Program (DNP) and an exceptional steward to the community, is mourned by the many people whose lives she touched. She exemplified what it means to be a nurse and earned her reputation as a compassionate, hard-working and brilliant student, friend, relative and provider.
Guo’s friends, classmates and faculty from nursing and public health are honoring her legacy through a scholarship fund to help students in both programs.
“As we mourn her loss, the scholarship fund will serve as an enduring memorial to her spirit and connection to the community,” said Mary Boland, dean of the School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene.
Guo served as a graduate assistant in the Office of Public Health Studies (OPHS) in the Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work, while excelling as a full-time DNP student, providing care at Palolo Chinese Home and maintaining a vast social network of friends and colleagues.
“Mary was very caring, level-headed, highly motivated and quick-witted with a positive attitude,” recalled fellow DNP student Roxanne Haverkort-Yeh.
“As a friend, I found myself motivated and joyful being around her because she was determined and passionate about making a difference in our community,” said DNP classmate Adeline Adachi. “She truly had a love for life and others.”
Tetine Sentell, chair and director of OPHS, met Guo while she pursued her master’s of public health degree, and got to know her well when Guo worked for her as a junior specialist assisting in research projects.
“There is so much heartbreak and shock about this loss. Many of our young alumni reached out to me as well as our faculty and many others with the hope that we could do something,” Sentell said. “I think we all want to acknowledge her legacy in terms of what she had already achieved and also in terms of the hope of what she would do over time for our community with her care, intelligence, leadership and hard work.”
“Her heart and dedication to the healthcare field/community will live on through this scholarship with the hopes that any applicants/recipients of the scholarship will be motivated by Mary’s legacy and continue their educational/professional goals with the same fortitude as Mary had,” Adachi added.
Mary Guo Memorial Scholarship Fund
The Mary Guo Memorial Scholarship Fund, supported by UH Foundation, has been established and will award funds as early as this fall to assist graduate students in OPHS as well as the graduate entry program in nursing.
Donations will fuel the fund, and once it reaches $50,000, UH Foundation will invest those dollars as an endowment. A GoFundMe page set up by Guo’s family and friends to assist with memorial expenses illustrates the impact Guo had on the community. In just 10 days, the account raised nearly $46,000 from 577 donors.
Gifts in Guo’s memory may be made online. Checks can be made payable to “UH Foundation” with a note indicating “Mary Guo Scholarship” and mailed to UH Foundation, P.O. Box 11270, Honolulu, HI 96828-0270.
Read more on the UH Mānoa Nursing website.
