W OM E N OF A C HI EV EM EN T
Jean M c Dona ld Fa m i ly Nu r se Pr act it io ner, U N C Ca m pus He alt h y friend Jean McDonald is a native North Carolinian and one of those people who can give you a quick, fascinating snippet of history about almost anywhere in the Triangle. She knows where there are abandoned graves, probably from before the Civil War; she gets misty-eyed when talking about the days of Pyewacket in The Courtyard; she can describe the drive past farmland from RDU to town on Highway 54 before they extended I-40. She met her husband when they were both students at UNC, and she raised three kids (triplets, no less!). I tell you all that just to give you a sense of how rooted she is in this area, but this is not why I admire her so much. The thing about Jean is she is always out there doing and helping others. She has made that her life’s work. Jean is a nurse by profession but has always picked jobs where she is serving people who are less likely to get the best of our medical services. She has worked at the Orange County Health Department and as a UNC Campus Health nurse. She has worked as a school nurse at Glenwood Elementary School. Jean volunteers as a nurse on trips to remote areas of Central America. And those are just some of the things she does as a nurse. She also volunteers with Get Out the Vote, does 5K and 10K runs for a wide range of causes and is the kind of person who stops her car to get a box turtle out of the road. Jean is active with the Be Loud! Sophie Foundation and loved Sophie Steiner with all her heart. To know any of the Steiners is to love and support them. But that’s not extraordinary – there are many, many others who have leaned on her for medical advice, emotional support or just a long, quiet hug. I count myself as one of those. She is smart, funny, insightful and has never met a stranger. I do not exaggerate when I tell you that to know Jean is to love her. She is simply extraordinary, and we are lucky indeed to have her in our community. – by Allie Mendelsohn
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chapelhillmagazine.com
May/June 2021