In honor of National Nurses Day, Valley Stream's Ogden Elementary School honored their favorite school nurse Marsha Soffrin Fleisher with a memorial bench and ceremony.

Marsha was born on September 30, 1945. She lived in Plainview with her parents Paul and Ruth and her brother David. She graduated from Plainview Old Bethpage High School in the mid-1960s. Marsha always knew she wanted to be a nurse and she graduated from Kings County Hospital School of Nursing. She opted to be a bedside nurse so she could get to know the patients better. Marsha married Maurice Fleisher and together they had their daughter Beth Fleisher.

After holding many different nursing positions, Marsha was hired as the school nurse at Ogden Elementary School where she worked for eight years.

Marsha lost her battle with bone cancer and died September 2, 2000.

Everyone that came in contact with Marsha was touched by her generosity and outstanding nursing skills. Staff members at Ogden Elementary School found it fitting to honor Marsha Fleisher's memory with a memorial bench.

A memorial ceremony was held on May 6, National Nurse's Day, to honor Marsha. In attendance were Marsha's parents, her widower Maurice, daughter Beth and her husband Erik Weiss. Carl Spinola, principal at Ogden, started the ceremony with his memories and kind words about Marsha. He also allowed some students to share their memories of Mrs. Fleisher with those in attendance, including Ogden's entire student body.

Zachary Musella recounted his memories of eating lunch with Mrs. Fleisher every day just to talk and visit with her. "Mrs. Fleisher was more than a nurse," said Zachary. "She would fix problems that weren't always visible. She would have loved the bench in this location."

Rachel Price and Daniel Rosenthal were students at Ogden when Mrs. Fleisher was a nurse there and have since moved to the middle school. Rachel told everyone that Mrs. Fleisher saved her life when she was in fourth grade. She had spinal meningitis and went into a coma. Mrs. Fleisher performed CPR and made it possible for Rachel to arrive at the hospital with enough time to save her life. "I am alive today thanks to Mrs. Fleisher. She saved my life," she said.

Matthew Rizzo, representing Ogden's Student Council, spoke on behalf of Ogden students and told Mrs. Fleisher's family how much she will be missed. "School nurses are like moms," he said.

The students then presented Marsha's surviving family members with memory books that recounted the staff and students' memories of their favorite school nurse.

Paul and Ruth Soffrin, Marsha's parents, then read poems in honor of their daughter. Marsha's brother David Soffrin could not be in attendance, but Principal Carl Spinola read a letter from him.

Angela Giovaniello presented the Marsha Fleisher Garden Bench to the crowd. "We hope that this bench brings peacefulness to all that sit here and we hope that the memories of Marsha will inspire others." Then the students sang A Spoon Full of Sugar to end the ceremony.

The memorial bench is located in Ogden's second grade learning garden. Since Marsha was an avid gardener, her family and students found this the perfect location. The garden was started two years ago by the second-graders for all grades and residents to enjoy a relaxing reading area.

Fundraising was done to purchase the memorial bench. The extra $300 will be contributed to the Don Monti Memorial Research Foundation, as per the family's request.

"The ceremony was overwhelming," said Ruth Soffrin. "The things they said, did and the albums they gave us are beautiful. Every page was done in a different color with writings from staff, teachers and students about the relationships they had with our daughter. I remember most of them because I was so close to my daughter. I knew everything that was going on."

Paul Soffrin stood after the ceremony in awe of how many peoples' lives his daughter touched. "It is a beautiful day out today," he said. "I think Marsha picked it out - she was always a perfectionist."

Donations can be made to the Don Monti Memorial Research Foundation in memory of Marsha Soffrin Fleisher.