Kirstine Griffith (BASC(N) ’45) was born in Vancouver General Hospital in 1922 and from her early years, always knew she was going to become a nurse. She graduated from UBC in 1945 with her BASc in Nursing. That year, she also married Dr. Don Buckland (PhD Yale, 1945), who taught Forestry at UBC.

Kirstine began work as a Public Health Nurse in the Saanich Health Department near Victoria and stayed there for two years. She gave birth to her first daughter, Elizabeth, in January of 1948 and her second, Dorothy Ann in July 1950. Her son, David Francis was born in March of 1954. In 1951, her husband lost his sight, and she devoted herself to being his personal assistant. Following his death, in 1956, Kirstine returned to nursing.

In 1956, she was appointed as an instructor in charge of the Student Nurses Health Clinic at VGH and in 1958 she left the clinic and was appointed as an instructor first in Gynaecological Nursing, and later in Public Health Nursing, Pediatrics and Human Development.

Kirstine returned to UBC for her MA in Education, graduating in 1969. She married Dr. Braham Griffith (UBC Professor Emeritus) in the same year. Dr. Griffith had taught in the UBC Department of Forestry for about 30 years before his retirement in 1968. Kirstine and Braham greatly valued higher education and contributed regularly to UBC. They wanted to support students who couldn’t afford their studies.
Kirstine authored a resource book, “The Religious Aspects of Nursing Care,” in 1996, which is now in its fourth printing. The book attunes nurses to practices they may have never encountered, so that they can provide culturally safe care. She generously donated profits from book sales to various nursing scholarships, including a nursing scholarship fund at the UBC School of Nursing.
Kirstine passed away December 5, 2014 after a brief illness. She will be fondly remembered as a great friend to the UBC School of Nursing.

In memory of Mrs. Griffith, the J. Kirstine Griffith Memorial Graduate Scholarship in Nursing will be established. This permanently endowed fund will provide scholarships to graduate students enrolled in the School of Nursing at UBC.