Former Students and Friends Remember Dr. Lois A. Roelofs’ Humor and Care
On January 11, 2026, Professor Emerita of Nursing at Trinity Christian College, Dr. Lois A. Roelofs, passed away from pancreatic cancer in Sioux Falls, SD, at the age of 83. Before retirement, Dr. Roelofs served as Chair and Faculty in Trinity’s Nursing Program.
While Dr. Roelofs’ impact on the Nursing Program at Trinity was substantial, her individual care for students and colleagues lives on in the hearts she touched. Below, three tributes reflect on Dr. Roelofs as a teacher, a Nursing professional, and a friend.
Lorinda Lindemulder, MSN, RN
Associate Teaching Professor | Static Lab Coordinator Nursing, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
I had the privilege of having Lois as one of my instructors at Trinity Christian College. My favorite memory of Lois was her teaching us Kegel’s exercises in class. She was not afraid to laugh in the classroom.
On a more serious note, she was not afraid to share some of her struggles. I truly valued her authenticity, and her desire to maintain high standards of nursing practice. I am thankful for her modeling those to her students. I am so thankful for her sharing her caring with all of us who were blessed to know her.
Becky (DeVries) Savola, RN, BSN
Trinity Christian College Nursing Class of 1999
I had the privilege of having Dr. Roelofs as a professor for both psychiatric nursing and nursing research. What I remember most about her was her wit; she was genuinely funny, quick, and warm in a way that immediately put people at ease. During the time I was her student, she was navigating her husband’s prostate cancer diagnosis and subsequent surgery. Her willingness and ability to speak openly about that experience was incredibly impactful to me as a student nurse, modeling both vulnerability and strength.
We bonded early on after discovering that we had both grown up in the same small suburb of Grand Rapids, a place I returned to after graduating from Trinity. Every few years, Dr. Roelofs would reach out with a familiar message: “I’m going to be in town. Can we meet for lunch or coffee?” One of those visits happened to coincide with my book club, which was made up mostly of nurses. Dr. Roelofs graciously offered to join us and answer questions about her book, Caring Lessons. It remains such a sweet and meaningful memory.
Another special time was when I hosted a dinner at my home with several fellow 1999 TCC nursing friends and Dr. Roelofs. The evening was filled with fellowship, laughter, and stories—everything she embodied. I am deeply grateful for her mentorship, her humor, and the lasting connection she maintained with her students long after graduation. I’m thankful for her and will miss her! She was a gift to me!
Dr. Patsy Ruchala
Dean and Professor of Nursing Emerita Orvis School of Nursing, University of Nevada, Reno and Former Assistant Professor of Nursing, Trinity Christian College
In the fall of 1984 when I began teaching part-time as an instructor at a local community college, I very quickly became aware of an instructor that had previously taught there and had left to teach in a new BSN program. A few weeks later around 8 pm in the evening my phone rang. The person calling introduced herself as Lois Roelofs who was the Interim Director of the BSN program at Trinity Christian College. She had heard that I was teaching at her “old” school and that I had just the background they needed to fill a full-time position in Maternity Nursing. That phone call lasted for about two hours, and it was the beginning of a warm, fun friendship.
In 1985, when I began as a full-time faculty member at Trinity, the space for the Nursing Program was pretty sparse. After a full-time Director was hired and Lois went back to her faculty role, the College offered some space on the second floor of the building for an office that would house two people. Lois immediately and emphatically said, “Patsy and I will share it” and then started to laugh because that was the first I had heard about this office. As soon as we moved into the office, Lois decided that we would never get any work done unless we arranged the furniture so our backs were to each other. Her rationale was that if we could see each other, we would have too much fun, spend the day laughing away and never get any work done! So with our backs to each other for five years, we got a lot of work done, but more memorable to me were the times we turned our chairs face to face for serious conversations about our lives, our children and our faith; to support each other in so many ways…like studying for our GREs to enroll in doctoral programs and Lois making very funny applications for words we might encounter on the GRE-Verbal section of the exam; for many days of having so much fun and laughing so hard about the most trivial things that tears were streaming down our faces; and for developing a friendship that would last for four decades. That’s Lois to me, the take-charge person; the person grounded in her faith; the most fun person you could ever meet, and the friend that was always there.
