Aspiring Nurse Earns Brand New VNA Scholarship

By Kendra Bobowick

On an early summer day that encouraged tank tops and ponytails, a group of women gathered under the shade of the gazebo at The Pleasance to enjoy the cool breeze and a small celebration.

Aspiring health care professional Lauren DeFelice is the first-ever recipient of the newly established Janice Von Syckle Visiting Nurse Association of Newtown Inc Scholarship. Dr Guy Van Syckle established the scholarship in remembrance of his wife, Janice, who was a past VNA president.

Congratulating Ms DeFelice and honoring the announcement of the scholarship for the first time were the association’s current president Becky Smith, along with past presidents Margareta Kotch, Mae Schmidle, Sally Schwerdtle, and Mary Tietjen. The VNA scholarship is intended for a student going into the nursing field.

In Ms DeFelice’s case, she has had a lifelong inspiration to care for others.

“Both my grandfathers were extremely sick,” she said. One grandfather had cancer and the other had health complications, she explained.

Remembering their struggle, she said, “My mom cared for them so they weren’t at a hospital, and I helped my mom.” Ms DeFelice took special care of her grandparents. She remembers, “Being with them was hard, but I wanted to help.” She and her mother would feed them, clip their nails, she said. “Whatever I could do; it is what sparked an interest in this field.”

Ms DeFelice has plans to attend Colby-Sawyer College in New London, N.H., which has a medical affiliation with Dartmouth College.

The scholarship award is based on academics, and personality, which is a big part of nursing, said Ms Schwerdtle. It was established by Dr Guy Van Syckle, MD, to honor his wife and her lifelong interest in the nursing profession, and locally in the Newtown VNA. The Van Syckles moved to Newtown in 1957, a few years after they were married.

Jan Van Syckle was a graduate of St Margaret’s School in Waterbury, and also of LaSalle Junior College in Newton, Mass. She went on to study nursing at Hartford Hospital’s School of Nursing, where she enjoyed positions of increasing responsibility, eventually serving as Head Nurse.

Ms Van Syckle was an active member of Newtown VNA for many years, and served as president for three (1988–91). She was an enthusiastic member of many VNA committees including its Scholarship Committee. She also maintained her love for nursing by volunteering in Newtown’s school health programs and local blood banks. She died in July 2004.

The Janice B. Van Syckle Scholarship of $2,500 has been established to encourage interest and growth in the field of nursing. The honor is to be awarded annually to a Newtown High School graduating senior who is pursuing a Bachelor of Science Nursing Degree.