Nurse Bonnie V. Custen dies at 61

Though her early dreams of becoming a nurse had to be postponed, her passion never waned. Bonnie V. Custen eventually became a registered nurse, did hands-on nursing and went on to serve as an executive with a health care staffing firm.

Custen, 61, died Monday at Winter Haven Hospital in Winter Haven, Fla., following a long battle with breast cancer, her husband said.

After graduating from Massapequa High School in 1970, her nursing studies were put on hold so she could care for her ailing mother, said Stephen Custen, her husband of more than 32 years.

Still, she held fast to her goal and in 1990, while married and living in Vermont, entered the University of Vermont nursing college, graduating as a dean's list student, her husband said.

A profile of Custen in a 2004 book, "Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives: The Stories of Nurses," tells of the medical insignia her father gave her early on, and how she stored it in a bank vault when she stepped off the nursing path. After passing her nursing exams, she retrieved the insignia, put it around her neck and said out loud to her late father, "I did it," the profile says.

After getting her degree, Custen worked in hospital nursing in Vermont.

In 1992, when they moved to Florida, her husband said, she joined Cross Country Health Care, where she went on to become director of risk management. She also earned further designations, including that of Certified Professional in Healthcare Risk Management, and belonged to the Florida Bar Association, health law section, her husband said.

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"She was a delight to work with -- a very caring person," said Emil Hensel, chief financial officer with Cross Country Health Care, based in Boca Raton.

Born July 4, 1952, in Brooklyn, Custen grew up in Massapequa. She worked as a manager for Revlon at various department stores in New York City, and met her future spouse on a westbound Long Island Rail Road train, her husband said.

Making their home in Long Beach, they owned several businesses, including a travel agency with offices in Long Beach and Rockville Centre and a pub in Oceanside, he said.

Also a writer and poet, Custen served on the editorial advisory board of ADVANCE for Nurses magazine.

Custen loved animals, dogs, especially, said her son Lance Custen of Houston, and she was an avid traveler, having visited more than 50 countries.

Other survivors include son Scott, of Houston, and a brother, Dr. Harlan Spindler of Dix Hills.

Funeral services are planned for noon Thursday at the Star of David Memorial Chapel in West Babylon, with burial in Wellwood Cemetery in Pinelawn.