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Photos: Friends and family organize parade for Iowa City nurse
May. 3, 2020 7:28 pm
When a ceremony to recognize nurse Jane Utech as one of the 100 Iowa Great Nurses for 2020 was cancelled amid coronavirus concerns, friends and family organized a parade to drive by her home to cheer her on instead.
Clinical practice leader Jane Utech of the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center waves as a parade of friends and co-workers drive by honking and waving at her home in Iowa City on Sunday, May 3, 2020. Friends and family organized the parade in her honor after a ceremony recognizing her as one of the 100 Iowa Great Nurses for 2020 was cancelled amid coronavirus concerns. Utech has worked for the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics for 30 years. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)
Colette and Pat Hartley of Iowa City raises up old photos of nurse Jane Utech during a parade to honor her in Iowa City on Sunday, May 3, 2020. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)
Neighbors join in on a parade to recognize Jane Utech as one of the 100 Iowa Great Nurses for 2020 in Iowa City on Sunday, May 3, 2020. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)
Sandy Gerard of Iowa City, a friend of Jane Utech's, stands through the sunroof of her car as she leads a parade of over 15 cars going past Utech's home in Iowa City on Sunday, May 3, 2020. The parade was organized for Utech after a ceremony to recognize her as one of the 100 Iowa Great Nurses for 2020 was cancelled amid coronavirus concerns. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)
Nurse Maegan Bruene holds out a bouquet of flowers for Jane Utech while riding with her mom in the parade for Jane in Iowa City on Sunday, May 3, 2020. Maegan works with Jane's daughter, Anna Utech, and is the daughter of one of Jane's co-workers, Deb Bruene. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)
Clinical practice leader Jane Utech of the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, right, and her daughter registered nurse Anna Utech, left, walk along a parade of parked cars stopped to wave and talk to Jane in her neighborhood in Iowa City on Sunday, May 3, 2020. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)
Tracy Clapp, one of Jane's co-workers, holds up a sign for her while driving in the parade with her daughter, Lauren, in Iowa City on Sunday, May 3, 2020. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)
Clinical practice leader Jane Utech of the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center waves to friends and co-workers as they stop to wave and talk to her after organizing a parade to recognize her as one of the 100 Iowa Great Nurses for 2020 in Iowa City on Sunday, May 3, 2020. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)
Edd Pirkl, a friend of Jane Utech's, sets down flowers for her after stopping as a part of a parade organized by friends recognizing her as one of the 100 Iowa Great Nurses for 2020 in Iowa City on Sunday, May 3, 2020. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)
Flowers, balloons, signs and other gifts for Jane Utech are seen collected in her driveway as a parade recognizing her as one of the 100 Iowa Great Nurses for 2020 passes her home in Iowa City on Sunday, May 3, 2020. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)
Edd Pirkl, a friend of Jane Utech's, gathers decorations to help prepare cars for a parade by her home in Iowa City on Sunday, May 3, 2020. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)
Sandy Gerard of Iowa City, center, decorates her car in preparation for a parade by Jane Utech's home in Iowa City on Sunday, May 3, 2020. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)
Balloons are seen for parade participants to take and use to decorate their cars in Iowa City on Sunday, May 3, 2020. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)
Tracy Clapp, a co-workers of Jane's, decorates her car before parading by her home in Iowa City on Sunday, May 3, 2020. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)
Edd Pirkl, a friend of Jane Utech's, decorates his truck before participating in a parade for her in Iowa City on Sunday, May 3, 2020. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)
Sandy Gerard, left, and Tracy Clapp, right, work with decorations for a parade in recognition of their friend and colleague Jane Utech in Iowa City on Sunday, May 3, 2020. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)
Clinical practice leader Jane Utech of the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, left, and her daughter registered nurse Anna Utech, right, stand and wave as a parade of friends and colleagues passes by her home in Iowa City on Sunday, May 3, 2020. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)
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