Since she was four years old, Patricia D’Alterio Boike wanted to be a nurse. And now, after a 40-year career in nursing, she has established the Patrician Endowed Scholarship Fund to help other aspiring nurses achieve their dreams.

A few years after graduating in 1969, Boike moved to Charlotte with her late husband, Richard, where she split her career between Novant Health and Carolinas HealthCare System (now Atrium Health). They raised two sons, Michael and Matthew, and have two grandchildren, Piper and Parker. After Richard’s passing in 2014, Boike decided to use part of the couple’s savings to endow a scholarship and saw a need for student support in the College of Nursing.

“There’s such a great need for nurses, and I wanted to help by making the opportunity available to a student that wants to attend the College of Nursing but is unable to afford it.” 
-Pat Boike, on establishing the Patrician Endowed Scholarship Fund

When it came to naming the scholarship, Boike wanted to turn the focus away from her and her contribution and make it more about the honorable profession of nursing. And since her name, Patricia, means noble, it was a perfect fit.

“When you hear about the public perception of nurses, one thing that comes up is that nursing is one of the most honorable and ethical professions,” she says. “I felt that the word noble exemplifies that meaning.”