Audrey Booth

1924 - 2019

Audrey J. Booth

November 2, 1924 - September 29, 2019

Chapel Hill

Audrey Joyce Booth, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, died on September 29, 2019 at Carol Woods Retirement Community. She was born in 1924 to the late Orval A. and Vivian Kinkade Booth; an infant sister and brother Billy Booth preceded her in death.

Audrey lived on a farm in Seward County, Nebraska, where she attended a one-room school and then graduated from Crete High School. She earned a baccalaureate degree cum laude from Doane College in 1945 and a master's degree in nursing from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. She worked at the Omaha Children's Hospital, the Queen's Hospital (Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii), and the University of North Carol Hospital, becoming a specialist in poliomyelitis care during the epidemic. Later, she became the first nursing supervisor of the pioneering hemodialysis unit of the Veteran Administration Hospital and the Department of Nephrology, Duke University Medical Center.

In 1957, Audrey became the first graduate of the new Master of Science in Nursing Service Administration program at the UNC-CH School of Nursing. She was associated with UNC for more than 25 years, first in Memorial Hospital and later with the School of Nursing, as Director of Statewide Nursing Activities for the NC AHEC Program and as Associate Dean. As Chair of the NC Board of Nursing for two terms, she was instrumental in achieving early legislation authorizing advanced practice for Nurse Practitioners. She was also a member of the Founding Committee for the NC Foundation for Nursing and of the Steering Committee for the Centennial Anniversary of the NC Nurses' Association, helping to produce the award-winning film North Carolina Nursing: 100 years of Caring.

Officially retired in 1985, Audrey eagerly volunteered for environmental causes, raising funds for the New Hope Audubon Society, and while serving six years as a Board Member for the Triangle Land Conservancy, she spearheaded the drive to raise more than 3 million dollars to purchase the Johnston Mill Nature Preserve on New Hope Creek in Orange County, North Carolina. A tributary there, feeding into New Hope Creek, was named Booth's Branch in her honor. She received the Conservationist of the Year Award from the NC Land Trust Council and Conversation Trust of NC for her "stop at nothing attitude and her passion for connecting people and the land."

Audrey was a humorous and actively engaged woman throughout her life, a role model for younger family members and professional colleagues, and in touch with a wide variety of people and the land that she loved.

She is survived by nephew Gary Booth and wife Jean of Houston, Texas; niece Deanne Katzmann and husband James of Mokena, Illinois; nephew Billy Booth of Crete, Nebraska; and five great nieces: Julie Hanes and son Hunter; Alisa Booth; Sarah Gross, husband Joseph and sons Noah and Jacob; Kristine Katzmann; and Kelly Katzmann and daughters Helena and Estelle.

A memorial service will be held at Carol Woods Retirement Center, Chapel Hill, NC on November 2, 2019 at 3:30pm. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Audrey Booth Nursing Scholarship, Office of Advancement, UNC School of Nursing, 301 Carrington Hall CB# 7460, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, or the Triangle Land Conservancy, 1101 Haynes Street, Suite 205, Raleigh, NC 17604, or Doane College, Crete, NE 68333. Messages to the family may be sent through niece Deanne Katzmann at dkatz60@gmail.com.