Donna Smith Takes a Bow and Retires from UNAC/UHCP

February 2014

Now that she’s retired from UNAC/UHCP, Donna Smith and her husband Charles may already be in Hawaii. Or perhaps in Marquette near the north tip of Michigan, on a pilgrimage to see the northern lights. Donna grew up in Detroit, Michigan, in a big Irish Catholic family. She has fond memories of going to the union hall at Christmas and getting a gift, because her dad was an active member of the United Auto Workers and the union was like family then.

As the eldest of six sisters, with three brothers thrown in, Donna always liked caring for people, so she became a nurse in 1970. She and Charles married and moved to California in 1975, then San Diego in 1977. They have a daughter and three grandchildren. She worked at Sharp Grossmont, mostly in PACU and ICU, when around 1985 Sandy Oleson began to involve her in the union by giving her lots of little jobs. At Kaiser SD she worked up to Steward, then Treasurer, but really got hooked when she went out on lost time to fight a CNA raid. She became a Staff Rep in 2004, working at KSDHCPA with her mentor Sandy, then for SCNSC since earlier this year.

Here at UNAC/UHCP, we’ll miss Donna something terrible, and wish her all the best in retirement.