Her untimely passing was a shock to the Guam community late last month. University of Guam School of Health dean, Dr. Margaret Hattori-Uchima left behind a legacy of nurses placed on the frontline to battle a worldwide pandemic.

That legacy can be seen at the Guam Regional Medical City where on Friday they paid tribute to the educator known as "Dr. Margaret."

Surgical Nurse Manager Vanessa Tudela was one of the many mourners gathered at the hospital chapel for the memorial Mass. Dr. Margaret was her mentor while she earned her nursing degree.

"She embodied education and nurturing future nurses for the community of Guam," Tudela said. "So it’s such a loss to hear that she’s gone."

Other former students-turned-nurses are Junell Elomina and Mark Sazon who knew Dr. Margaret as a guiding light.

"She was kind of like the light for all of us in the nursing program," Elomina said. "She really pushed us to be nurses, good nurses. Every time I think of her, I just think of how involved she was in the community. She would always try to give back because they’ve given us so much to keep this program going."

For Sazon, he’s especially grateful to her as his batch almost didn’t graduate at the height of the pandemic.

"For my class, we were supposed to graduate in 2020, but the whole pandemic happened," he said. "It was Dr. Margaret’s idea for us to graduate early so we could help out the local workforce because everyone was struggling during this pandemic."

At the memorial, he remembered her tireless dedication during the pandemic fighting on the frontlines.

Dr. Margaret also devoted much of her time to with the Guam Homeless Coalition in her unwavering pursuit of health equity for all island residents, especially the disadvantaged.

"She was like a figure to a lot of these people she rarely knew," Tudela said. "Even if they’re homeless, they’re like ‘oh yeah I remember her from last year’ and stuff like that. It’s such a great loss not only for nursing students, the program, the university, all her friends and family, even the people she touched out in the community."

Along with the prayers said at the memorial, GRMC also honored Dr. Margaret's legacy by holding a canned food drive for the unsheltered and continuing to give back to the community.

"It's a shame that she’s gone but it’s our job as nurses to keep that legend going," Sazon said.