Oliveira, Francinete de Lima (1940–2008)

Francinete de Lima Oliveira was born February 9, 1940, in the city of Belém, state of Pará, Brazil. Daughter of Estelita Alves de Lima and João Freire de Lima, she had two brothers, Ribamar and Valter.¹ Her remarkable interest in serving others began at a young age. As a volunteer, she helped doctors at a Catholic Church's outpatient clinic by distributing medicine.²

She encountered the Adventist message through one of Pastor Leo Halliwell's evangelistic series held in the city of Belém. Baptized, she became the only Adventist in her family.³ Francinete attended high school at Northeast Brazil Junior College in Belém de Maria, Pernambuco. In February 1961 the Grão Pará Adventist Academy opened in Belém, where she worked for a year as a secretary.

In 1962, the Belém Adventist Hospital offered her a scholarship to study at the Lauriston Job Lane Nursing School, the oldest nursing school in the city of São Paulo. Although her first interest was philosophy, she accepted the invitation. During her studies she lived as an interim nursing student at the hospital.⁴  She sang in the choir of a small church in the Santa Cecília district. There she met Domício de Oliveira, who was studying theology at Brazil College (now UNASP-SP).⁵

After she graduated in December 1964, Francinete worked for two months at the Silvestre Adventist Hospital in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Back in São Paulo, she married Domicio on February 25, 1965, in a ceremony officiated by Jerônimo Garcia. Three children were born from that union: Marcos Vinicius, Mirian, and Marcelo.⁶ In September 1965, she started working at the Adventist Hospital of São Paulo, where she remained until December 1970.⁷⁸

In 1970, she received an invitation to be a teacher at the nursing school that Brazil College inaugurated in 1968. At first, she hesitated, because she did not intend to be a teacher, but an assistant nurse. However, she accepted the offer since the school needed instructors who lived a lifestyle reflecting the one upheld by the institution. During the next 30 years, Francinete taught several subjects at the nursing school: ethics,⁹ nursing issues,¹⁰ nursing history,¹¹ medical nursing,¹² hospital management,¹³ surgical nursing,¹⁴ and principles of teaching nursing.¹⁵ She was the vice-director of the nursing school from 1978 to 1982¹⁶ and director from 1983 to 1996.^{17 18}

In 1985 she earned a master of science degree from the University of São Paulo.¹⁹ Also she served on the board of the Regional Nursing Council in São Paulo as an advisor and committee chair from 1975 to 2007,²⁰ a period during which she made several trips to Germany, Argentina, Switzerland, among other countries.²¹ Francinete also taught in the children's department of the Blumenau Church, was secretary of its building committee, and helped raise funds for its new edifice. Beginning to experience the effects of Multiple Sclerosis, she retired in 2002, passing away November 5, 2008, at the São Paulo Adventist Hospital.²²

Francinete de Lima Oliveira was a nurse and teacher for more than 30 years in Adventist institutions. While part of the nursing faculty at Brazil College, she was vice director for five years and director for 13. People remembered her as a teacher devoted to her students. In addition to encouraging them, she helped financially many who could not otherwise continue their studies. Her influence contributed to the nursing school becoming an institution that trained students with a Christian philosophy.²³

Sources

“Francinete de Lima Oliveira.” Revista Adventista, April 2009.

Filho, Francisco Ebani. “Vida do Professor Domício de Oliveira.” Monograph, Instituto Adventista de Ensino, 1988.

Kuntze, Tânia D. “Faculdade Adventista de Enfermagem: Memória Histórica, 1968-1998.” Doctoral dissertation, University of São Paulo, 2010.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association. Various years. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.

Streithorst, Walter. “Primeiro Ginásio da União Norte-Brasileira.” Revista Adventista, September 1961. Accessed January 17, 2020, http://acervo.revistaadventista.com.br.

Notes

1. Domício Oliveira interview by Letícia Miola, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, May 9, 2019.↩

2. Tânia Denise Kuntze. “Faculdade Adventista de Enfermagem: Memória Histórica, 1968-1998” (Doctoral diss., University of São Paulo, 2010), 255.↩

3. Domício Oliveira interview by Letícia Miola, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, May 9, 2019.↩

4. Kuntze, 255.↩

5. Francisco Ebani Filho, “Vida do Professor Domício de Oliveira” (Monograph, Brazil College, 1988), 24.↩

6. Domício Oliveira interview by Letícia Miola, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, May 9, 2019.↩

7. Kuntze, 255.↩

8. Ibid.↩

9. “Brazil College,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1971), 314.↩

10. Ibid.↩

11. Ibid.↩

12. “Brazil College,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1971), 314; “Brazil College,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1972), 286; “Brazil College,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1973,74), 286; “Brazil College,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1978), 328.↩

13. “Brazil College,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1976), 313; “Brazil College,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1977), 322; “Brazil College,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1999), 405; “Brazil College,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2000), 407.↩

14. “Brazil College,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1978), 328.↩

15. “Brazil College,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1998), 398.↩

16. “Brazil College,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1979), 337; “Brazil College,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1983), 369.↩

17. “Brazil College,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1984), 371; “Brazil College,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1997), 387.↩

18. Tânia Denise Kuntze. “Faculdade Adventista de Enfermagem: Memória Histórica, 1968-1998” (Doctoral diss., University of São Paulo, 2010.), 255; Walter Streithorst, “Primeiro Ginásio da União Norte-Brasileira,” Revista Adventista, September 1961, 24.↩

19. Kuntze, 62.↩

20. Ibid., 85.↩

21. Domício Oliveira interview by Letícia Miola, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, May 9, 2019.↩

22. Ibid.; “Francinete de Lima Oliveira,” Revista Adventista, April 2009, 41.↩

23. Domício Oliveira interview by Letícia Miola, Engenheiro Coelho, São Paulo, May 9, 2019; “Francinete de Lima Oliveira,” Revista Adventista, April 2009, 41.↩