Hiker remembered for her heart
Published 10:53 pm Wednesday, September 26, 2007
EVERETT — Joan Albro lived life with a zest that made everyone around her smile: a world traveler, downhill skier, home remodeler, music lover and avid hiker.
She brought the same indomitable spirit to her job as a physician’s assistant, working for a team of surgeons and Everett hospital staff who specialize in heart surgery.
“She was the best physician’s assistant I’ve ever seen,” said Dr. Frank Nieto, one of her co-workers at Everett Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgical Associates. “She was truly gifted.
“She loved her job and coming to work,” he said. “Even in the hardest of times and longest of hours, she was always the smiling face.”
Albro, 46, of Everett died Saturday while hiking near Mount Baker, apparently slipping from a rock above a 50-foot waterfall.
“She’s someone who will truly be missed,” Nieto said. Providence Everett Medical Center staff is “literally in a state of mourning.”
A celebration of Albro’s life will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Monte Cristo Hotel, 1507 Wall St.
Albro was hired at the Everett cardiovascular practice in May 1998. When she was being interviewed for the job, she said she could only promise to stay three or four years because of her love of travel, said Kathy Albro, her sister-in law.
And although Joan Albro stayed far longer than she initially promised, she still found ways to take in the world travel she so loved.
Her journeys included trips to Tahiti, Japan, Guam, the Philippines, Norway, France, Italy, Canada, England, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand.
Anytime she knew of someone living or traveling overseas, she would find a way to take time off from work to take a trip, Kathy Albro said. She was such a master packer “she could fit a three-week trip into a 24- by 18-inch carry-on suitcase.”
Lisa Niblett, a nurse who works on the cardiac team at Providence Everett Medical Center, remembers Joan Albro as an accomplished seamstress and someone who single-handedly remodeled almost every room in her Rucker Hill home.
She also was a voracious reader and someone who could name almost any song on the radio.
“She would find something and embrace it,” Niblett said.
The two friends shared a love of downhill skiing. “She always challenged me to push myself a little further, which I just loved,” Niblett said.
“She touched so many lives,” Niblett said. “She will be so dearly missed.
Albro was born on April 12, 1961, in Auburn, N.Y. She is survived by parents Gordon and Agnes Albro of Lakeland, Fla.; and brothers Bill Albro of Waldorf, Md., Tom Albro of Bel Air, Md., Jeff Albro of Lakeland, Fla., and Brian Albro of Kingston.
The family has requested donations in her honor be made to Noah’s Ark of Central Florida in Lakeland, Fla.
