Lynbrook native Patrick Coonan, the inaugural dean of Adelphi University’s College of Nursing and Public Health, died on Jan. 24, at age 71. He was surrounded by his family, which had supported him since he suffered a heart attack in 2017 that resulted in a brain injury.
Born on April 12, 1954, Coonan was raised in Lynbrook and attended Malverne schools before earning a nursing degree from Adelphi. He worked in the emergency departments of several hospitals, eventually overseeing nursing staffs and taking on administrative roles.
He met his future wife, Anita Vetere, at an event to support the Lynbrook Fire Department, where Coonan and Anita’s brother, Michael Vetere Jr., were both members. She, too, was a student at Adelphi, and they married on May 22, 1977.
Coonan, who had joined the Fire Department at 18, remained an active member for 53 years, and served as department chief from 1993 to 1997.
“He was loving, a force of life,” Anita said. “He’d walk in a room and it would light up. He was a great family man. His kids meant everything to him.”
Coonan trained paramedics as well nurses before he began his career in academia. He was a part-time program director at Columbia University before becoming assistant dean at the Columbia School of Nursing.
Coonan earned a master’s in health care administration from Long Island University, and master’s and doctoral degrees in education and nursing at Columbia’s Teachers College.
In 2004, he became the dean of Adelphi’s School of Nursing. “That was his dream job,” his son, David, said. “He took everything that he had learned and everything he’d worked towards, and he put it all back into the school that gave so much to him.”
Coonan was integral in the opening of the Nexus building, the home of the College of Nursing and Public Health, which he founded in 2013. As the inaugural dean, he helped oversee an expansion of students, staff, facilities and programs before he retired in 2017. He helped design the school’s state-of-the-art nursing simulation lab.
“He made sure the lab included all aspects of nursing care, maternal health, ICU, home care and individual patient examination rooms with high-fidelity, state-of-the-art manikins,” said Deborah Ambrosio Mawhirter, an associate clinical professor at Adelphi who worked closely with Coonan during his time as dean. “He knew that simulation was the future in nursing education.”
Coonan founded the Nursing Adelphi Sigma Theta Tau Leadership conference, which was held at Adelphi for over 15 years and attracted hundreds of nurses to the area to learn about nursing and leadership. Funds raised during the events supported scholarships for Adelphi nursing students.
“He was devoted to developing competent clinicians, confident professionals and compassionate leaders,” Mawhirter said. “He was truly a transformational leader who found the potential in everyone. He was inspiring and motivating to students and faculty, best described as an empowering and visionary leader and a mentor to many.”
Coonan also served as academic director of the Center for Health Innovation at Adelphi He was a member of several boards, served as president of the New York State Council of Deans and Directors of Baccalaureate and Higher Degree Nursing Programs, and on the Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center board, and advised on course learning for Nurse.com.
He was also a subject matter expert for the consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal, and the principal consultant for his own management consulting business, Infinite Horizons Consulting LLC.
Coonan’s impact on education extended beyond Adelphi: He was a Malverne Board of Education trustee from 1997 to 2001 and from 2007 to 2012, and served as board president for four years.
“He was a remarkable individual whose service to our school district has left an enduring legacy,” Josephine Bottitta, the current president of the Malverne school board, told the Herald.
Coonan received several honors over the course of his career, including lifetime achievement awards from the Adelphi University College of Nursing and Public Health and the Alpha Omega Chapter of Sigma Theta Tao in 2017, as well as the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award from the Malverne school district in 2019.
Coonan was a fan of all things Disney, and enjoyed traveling, the New York Rangers and entertaining friends in his home. And his family was important to him: Every week, they would gather for dinner at the Brick Café in Lynbrook. In a 2016 interview with Nurse Leader, Coonan said “Friday nights center me, and help me keep my life in focus.”
“We all want to be people like him,” his son David said. “We want to be successful, do things to the best of our ability, work hard, and impact people.”
“He was a Disney fanatic,” David added. “The house was covered in Disney memorabilia. He looked up to Walt Disney, and studied his leadership style to apply in his professional life.”
In addition to his wife of 48 years, Coonan is survived by his mother, Jeancarol; his children, David, Lauren, Phillip and Amy; their spouses; and his grandchildren, Lennon and William.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Heart Association.
