Sybil Koeplin

Koeplin, Sybil
1939 - 2017
Sybil "Priscilla" Koeplin, age 78 passed away on December 5, 2017 at her home in Delaware County, Ohio. She is survived by her husband, O. H. "Oz" Koeplin; her two children, Jackie Lauterbach; granddaughter, Tori and Gordon LeMone, with her husband's only child, Eric Koeplin and his children, John, William, and Claire. Priscilla was born in Taos, New Mexico to her parents, Sybil and Gordon Aird where they lived four years in a log cabin. The parents moved to Laddonia, Missouri, where they lived in a farm house without running water the next for 12 years. She went to a one room schoolhouse through the ninth grade, then graduated from high school in Mexico, Missouri. She became a Registered Nurse after completing 36 months of an education/work diploma at Deaconess Hospital in St. Louis. She was a staff nurse at several hospitals in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. At the age of 23, without a credited college degree or courses, she became a clinical instructor at the Baptist Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Oklahoma City. When she moved to Cape Girardeau, MO, she was offered a position at Southeast Missouri State University with a condition that she obtain a degree in Nursing. She graduated Summa Cum Laude in Nursing and followed with a Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology with Academic Distinction at that University. At the age of 52, she obtained her Doctorate of Science in Nursing (DSN) from the University of Alabama. Her Dissertation dealt with "The Sexual Function of Adults with Diabetes". Two noteworthy achievements in her educational pursuits were: (1) from her first grade through her post high school education and through her doctoral degree, her lowest grade ever achieved was an A. (2) Due to her scholarships, grants, university funded, and other stipends, her total costs for her entire post high school education through her doctorate was less than $600. She was an Associate Professor Emerita at the University of Missouri, where she also was Director of Undergraduate Studies, and Faculty Associate to the Dean of the Nursing School. She was Adjunct Professor at the Ohio State University when she moved to the Columbus area, where she counseled students that were writing dissertations for a PHD in nursing. She was prime author for six editions of the text book "Medical/Surgical Nursing" and co-author of eight worldwide editions of "Fundamentals of Nursing", which at one time was utilized as textbook for beginning students in 351 universities. She was a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing", a prestigious award being one of 1800 receiving this honor from approximately 750,000 registered nurses in America. She was selected and received the William T. Kemper Fellow Award for Excellence in Teaching, Most Supportive Faculty Award Graduate Nurses Assn, a Founding Member of the Nightingale Association, Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching, and Distinguished Friend Award of the Sinclair School of Nursing, University of Missouri. She funded two scholarship programs for students at Missouri and Southeast Missouri State University and was awarded Lifetime Membership to the University of Missouri Alumni Assn. A memorial service will be held at the Calgary Episcopal Church (Fr. on Ninth Street in Columbia, Mo on Saturday, January 20, 2018 at 11 AM. It is suggested that, in lieu of flowers, a contribution is sent to the Sinclair School of Nursing, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO. To send an online condolence, please visit www.rutherfordfuneralhomes.com.