Obituary of Mary Lind

Mary Patricia "Pat" Lind, 70, of Oakland, NJ peacefully departed to her eternal life on July 24, 2011 at Villa Marie Claire in Saddle River, NJ. Born on July 12, 1941 at Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital in Jersey City, she was the only child of Frank and Cecilia Ferguson of Hasbrouck Heights, NJ. Pat graduated from Immaculate Conception High School in Lodi, NJ in 1959 before attending Seton Hall University where in 1963 she was one of the first women to obtain a Baccalaureate degree in Nursing. In 1968 she obtained her Master's in Nursing, specializing in obstetrics at Columbia University where she also obtained her license in midwifery and became an associate professor. Over the years, she worked at Hackensack University Medical Center in Labor and Delivery and the ICU, Holy Name Hospital in Labor and Delivery and taught obstetrics at their nursing school and at the Englewood Women's Clinic as a nurse and midwife. Pat then went on to attend Union County College in 1982 to become one of Valley Hospital's first paramedics, a career that spanned nearly 24 years until retirement. During her medical career she attended the birth of nearly 1000 babies. Pat has also served as an emergency medical technician for the Ho-Ho-Kus Volunteer Ambulance Corps where she also acted as the corps President and Captain, and is a life member, and the Oakland First Aid Squad. She helped teach emergency obstetrics and gynecology to EMT and Paramedic students and Police cadets at the Law and Public Safety Institute in Mahwah, NJ and Union County College for nearly two decades. On September 11, 2001, as thousands fled Manhattan, she and her partner on Valley's MICU responded to the World Trade Center, before being stationed at the triage and treatment area at the South Street Seaport. Known affectionately to her grandchildren as"MomMom", the most important thing in Pat's life was her family. Carl Lind and his wife Loryn and their daughters Sydney and Paige of Pompton Lakes, NJ, Evan Lind and his wife Yoko of Toronto, Canada; Kristina Lind and her daughter Alixis of Mahwah, NJ and all her extended family and beloved friends. Pat will be remembered for her devotion to the Catholic faith and her love of God, her dedication to the teaching of emergency medical personnel and nurses, her ability to put the people around her at ease and calm their fears, her love of Siamese cats, her "grand-dogs" and Lake Sunapee, and her strength and conviction in the face of adversity that inspired all of those around her. She will forever be loved and missed by everyone whose life she touched. Visiting hours, Friday, July 29, 2011, 2-4, 6 -9 PM at the Vander Plaat Funeral Home, www.vpfh.com, 257 Godwin Ave.,Wyckoff, NJ. Funeral Saturday, beginning with prayers at 9:00 AM at the funeral home, followed by a Funeral Mass at 10:00 AM, St. Elizabeth RC Church, 700 Wyckoff Ave., Wyckoff, NJ. Entombment will follow at Maryrest Cemetery, Mahwah. In lieu of flowers; Pat has asked that donations be sent to Nancy Leyrer, Program Assistant, Memorial Sloan- Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Ave., Box 470, New York, NY 10065 or Villa Marie Claire, 12 West Saddle River Rd., Saddle River, NJ 07458.