9:46 a.m., Oct. 29, 2010----Penny L. Griffith, of West Grove, Pa., a graduate student in the University of Delaware's School of Nursing, died Oct. 9, 2010. She was 50.

Ms. Griffith was a student in UD's Adult Nurse Practitioner Program.

Allen Prettyman, coordinator of the program, said, “Penny always had a positive attitude toward her academic studies and life. She did not back down from academic challenges, but instead confronted them in a positive proactive manner that displayed her motivation to successfully complete the NP program.

“Penny had all the personal and professional attributes necessary to becoming an outstanding nurse practitioner. Penny's insightful contributions to class discussions will be missed by all the nursing faculty and graduate nursing students with whom she interacted at the UD.”

Ms. Griffith worked at Christiana Care from 2002-10, serving as a cardiovascular intensive care (CVICU) nurse from 2002-08, and an ECare nurse from 2008-10. Previously, she worked as an intensive care (ICU) nurse at Sutter Coast Hospital in Crescent City, Calif., and the St. Benardines Hospital in San Bernadino, Calif. She was an E-5 hospital corpsman in the U.S. Navy from 1980-84.

Ms. Griffith earned her associate degree in nursing from San Bernardino Valley College and her bachelor's degree in nursing from Immaculata University.

Her husband, Steve, said, “Penny was a selfless person who touched many hearts and left us all way too early.”

In addition to her husband, she is survived by son, Andrew, 23, and daughters Amanda and Angela, both 21, of West Grove; her mother, Bonnie Miner of Brookings, Ore.; her father, Robert Hewitt, of California; sister, Tanya Hewitt of Phoenix, Ariz.; and mother-in-law, Nancy Lou Griffith of Oxford, Pa.