Philanthropist donates over $1 million to St. Peter’s Health Partners for nursing education
Richard Siek stands next to a plaque unveiled on Saturday. SIek donated over $1 million to St. Peter's Health Partners for scholarships in memory of his late wife Andrea, who was a nurse.
A local philanthropist has made a donation of over $1 million to St. Peter’s Health Partners to support nursing education.
Richard Siek is providing funding for the Mission Scholars Program, which provides grants to colleagues looking to pursue professional growth in the field of nursing.
Siek made the donation on Saturday in honor of his late wife Andrea Lewis Siek, who was a nurse, in what would have been their 50th wedding anniversary. The event also occurred during National Nurses Week.
Andrea Siek was a 1969 graduate of St. Peter’s Hospital School of Nursing. The Sieks met while working at Samaritan Hospital in the 1970s. She was a charge nurse and he was a custodian. Richard Siek went on to a 36-year career with the U.S. Navy Seabees, according to a news release.
“Andrea worked for many years as a nurse and loved helping and comforting people. She told me that was the happiest time of her life,” Richard Siek said in a statement.
He noted that although Andrea’s nursing career was cut short due to health issues, she continued to help people wherever and however she could.
His wife died in 2017.
St. Peter’s Health Partners is renaming its Mission Scholars program the Richard E. Siek & Andrea Lewis Siek RN Missing Scholars Program.
“When the Mission Scholars fund was established in 2016, the goal was to foster professional and personal growth for exceptional colleagues at St. Peter’s Health Partners who have an
unfailing record of providing outstanding service, delivered with compassion, and whose actions are consistent with our mission,” said Peter Semenza, vice president of philanthropy at St. Peter’s Health Partners, in a statement. “With this generous gift from Richard, this program will only continue to grow and provide a ladder of opportunity to colleagues from any area within our system of care looking to pursue their nursing passion.”