Alice Friedlander, longtime director of volunteer services at the University of Nebraska Hospital and co-founder of the University Hospital Auxiliary, died Dec. 12. She was 80.
Services were held at 10 a.m. today at Grace Lutheran Church, 1326 S. 26 St. Interment was at Hillcrest Cemetery.
Friedlander served as director of volunteer services at University Hospital from 1972 to 1990. University Hospital is now part of The Nebraska Medical Center.
In 1977, Friedlander and Connie Skultety co-founded the auxiliary, which provides services and financial support to UNMC and The Nebraska Medical Center. Since 1992, the auxiliary also has awarded student scholarships in Friedlander’s name.
She is survived by her husband, Walter Friedlander, M.D., who founded both the department of neurology (now the department of neurosciences) and the department of medical humanities and jurisprudence (now the department of preventive and societal medicine) at UNMC.
She also is survived by her children, Ron VanOeveren and wife, Linda, Jessie Wuerst and husband, Steve, Bert VanOeveren and wife, Bobbie, all of Omaha, Joseph Friedlander and wife Janelle, of Hazen, N.D., Jeff VanOeveren and wife, Lyn, of Overland Park, Kan., daughter-in-law, Diane Friedlander, of Buffalo, N.Y.; sisters, Jackie Kalal and husband Don, and Dorothy McGinnis, all of Omaha; 15 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.
She is preceded in death by her parents, Dwight and Alice Lorimer; brother, Richard Lorimer; and son, John Friedlander.
Memorials may be made to the Alice Friedlander Scholarship Fund, c/o The Nebraska Medical Center, University Hospital Auxiliary, 987509 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-7509.
UNMC is the only public health science center in the state. Its educational programs are responsible for training more health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution. Through their commitment to education, research, patient care and outreach, UNMC and its hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, have established themselves as one of the country’s leading centers in cancer, transplantation biology, bioterrorism preparedness, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, genetics, biomedical technology and ophthalmology. UNMC’s research funding from external sources now exceeds $80 million annually and has resulted in the creation of more than 2,400 highly skilled jobs in the state. UNMC’s physician practice group, UNMC Physicians, includes 513 physicians in 50 specialties and subspecialties who practice primarily in The Nebraska Medical Center. For more information, go to UNMC’s Web site at www.unmc.edu.