Buckeye Inspiration: David Hiatt

Pictured above: David Hiatt's interest in his wife's career in nursing led him to establish a nursing scholarship fund, volunteer at Licking Memorial Hospital, and take classes in nursing (above, in class at Heminger Hall). 

by Melissa L. Weber

David Hiatt (’73) and his wife Sandy, a two-time Ohio State nursing graduate (BSN ’71, MS ’77), were married for nearly 48 years. 

Now he’s honoring Sandy’s memory by establishing a fund dedicated to helping nursing students in need. “I think this is the college’s first endowed hardship fund,” he said with pride. “It goes with the university’s hardship fund.” The endowment creates permanent funding to support students, providing thousands of dollars each year for emergency assistance for rent, books, groceries or other emergent needs.

“I always admired nurses,” Hiatt said. “They always give more than they get, in my opinion.”

Sandy, who passed away in 2022, was a 30-year breast cancer survivor, but developed bone cancer that didn’t respond to chemotherapy. 

“Nurses think of others first,” Hiatt said. “They tend to keep things to themselves, and Sandy was no exception. She didn’t let anyone know how her cancer made her feel, until one day she said, ‘I just don’t feel good.’ ” 

Sandy had begun decorating a small Christmas tree with special cancer ornaments. It still adorns their living room nearly two years later, with Hiatt’s additions: he added family pictures, as well as photos from Sandy’s nursing career, topping it with her nursing cap.

“People never look at a stack of pictures on the mantle,” he said.

Hiatt admits he always had a soft spot for nurses for their kindness. While in ROTC at Ohio State, he dated a nursing student, but she was headed for the Navy, while he chose the Army. After graduating from Ohio State with a bachelor’s degree in education in 1969, he spent three years in Germany before returning to Ohio as a member of the Ohio National Guard. That’s when he met Sandy. They were fortunate to purchase condominiums in the same complex. He strongly believes in service and volunteered as president of their condo association. One night, Sandy came to a meeting with a concern. 

“I saw her and thought, ‘Wow. She’s good-looking,’ ” he remembers. He asked her out on a date. Three months later, they were engaged, and just three months after that, they married. 

He served seven years of active duty in the Guard, then spent 16 years in the Army Reserve 83rd ARCOM, eventually retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. He taught Tech Ed at Thomas Worthington High School and then had a long career at Owens-Corning. He completed his master’s in education and returned briefly to teaching. 

Meanwhile, Sandy spent five years at Grant Hospital teaching and spent her 42-year nursing career at Nationwide Children's Hospital. “When she graduated, student loans could be forgiven in part if the nurse worked in an inner-city hospital,” said Hiatt, “and Children’s Hospital was considered inner-city.”

She loved the patients and stayed long after her debt was eliminated. Sandy’s love of children continued when they had their own son Mark and daughter Dayna, who graduated from Ohio State in 2000. 

Hiatt believes in paying forward and is a long-time member of the Pay-it-Forward Society through the ROTC alumni club. He also volunteered at the Air Force Museum in Dayton for 18 years. Hiatt now volunteers for the Licking Memorial Hospital in Newark, Ohio. His current volunteer work is a way to feel connected to Sandy by understanding the medical field a little more. 

He has started taking a few classes at Ohio State, too. Program 60 allows Ohioans over the age of 60 to audit classes (without credit) for free. Hiatt is taking classes in the College of Nursing to better understand and appreciate his wife’s career. 

“The students in the nursing program are so impressive,” he said. “Nurses are a wonderfully accomplished group, and we need a lot more of them.”