April 28, 2022 – Santa Fe College is mourning the loss of Laure Frank, who passed away April 21, 2022. Laure was beloved by nursing faculty, staff and students. She is best described as being driven to pass her love of nursing to all nursing students. Laure began at SF as an adjunct clinical instructor for the ASN program, contributed her skills as a nursing lab faculty member, and then in 2014 accepted a full-time faculty line teaching Practical Nursing Students – a position that Laure fully embraced and identified as her true calling.
Laure’s compassion, perseverance, and creativity helped many students succeed. She recognized the social, economic, and educational challenges that some of her students faced and created solutions to assist them to overcome and graduate from the PN program. Her compassion was demonstrated in numerous ways, including collecting food and baked goods in the early morning hours to bring to campus for the food pantry. She was an active member of the Professional committee for several years and was the recipient of the 2019 Provost’s Academic Excellence award for Associate Professors.
Just as she persevered in assuring student success, she persevered in her chosen career as long as she could. Laure’s goal was to continue teaching until her physical condition made it impossible to do so. She would frequently come to work or work from home after completing a treatment. She made a direct impact on the lives of hundreds of nursing students and therefore indirectly on the health of many in our community.
Laure is survived by her husband of 31 years, Jonathan, and four children; Genevieve and spouse Erik; Connor, Justine, and Noelle. Her nursing faculty colleagues will miss her optimism, joy, beautiful smile, and devotion to the field of nursing education.
A funeral mass will be held at Holy Faith Catholic Church, 747 NW 43rd Street in Gainesville Saturday, April 30, at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to: Humane Society of North Central Florida.
Please keep Laure’s loved ones and SF family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.