Mizzou business alum reflects on legacy of late wife, nursing alum

Let’s make one thing clear up front: It wasn’t love at first sight. 

“I just started talking to her and I kept thinking, I want to know more about her,” Steve Lanham, BSAcc ’92, MAcc ’93, recalled of his first encounter with Gina Tutera, BSN ‘86. “There was something about her spirit — her aura — and I just wanted to get to know this person. Everything about her.”

Steve met Gina at Pierpont, just outside Columbia, in the late ‘80s, while participating in a professional program for differently abled young adults. Gina was there as a caregiver, and Steve, who had suffered a spinal injury the year before, was there as a participant, with plans to study computer programming. Though he was independent and didn’t need much care, he still found ample opportunities to get to know Gina, who was studying nursing at the University of Missouri.

When he brought a grill to the program, which was situated in a camp-like setting, others asked if he’d prepare steaks and burgers for them if they provided their own meat. Soon it became a tradition within the little community. And Gina would drop by to help with the food preparation.

The two bonded over music, passing back and forth Steve’s custom mix tape of Elton John hits (though she asked him to add “Crocodile Rock” and drop “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy,” which to this day he deems to be a crime against both music and good taste).

Just as Gina finished her education at Mizzou, Steve started his, earning a BS in accountancy in 1992 and an MS in accountancy in 1993. Steve describes Gina as having a “magnetic” effect on people, and she surely had one on him. The couple soon wed, with her working at MU Health Care until they relocated to St. Louis.

Steve put his accountancy degree to good use as the director of financial systems for the Metro/Bi-State Development Agency, which partners with public and private organizations to keep the St. Louis region competitive.

Gina, meanwhile, found a spot in labor & delivery at Mercy Hospital, in a location lovingly nicknamed “The Baby Factory” by St. Louis natives due to its popularity with expectant parents and the high number of babies delivered there. Needless to say, being a labor & delivery nurse at “The Baby Factory” demanded long hours — and it commanded respect from her peers. Physicians sought her input. Fellow nurses who were facing complicated deliveries of their own sought her medical services. But even on the longest days, she came home happy to take calls from neighbors who were nervous about a sick baby, or family and friends needing care.

“It didn’t matter where we were,” Steve said. “We were on a plane coming back from St. John’s and someone was having trouble breathing — it was like she was Superman. Her seatbelt was off and she was running up the aisle. To me, she was always a nurse. And it was understood that was always going to be her number one priority.”

While her love of nursing ran deep, so did her love of Mizzou.

“There were times neighbors would say, ‘What was your wife screaming at?’” Steve recalled. “And I’d say, ‘Well, she was watching Mizzou basketball.’”

When a new nurse joined her team at Mercy, Gina’s first question was always, “Where’d you tend bar?,” which was nurse slang for, “Where’d you study nursing?”

“If it was Mizzou, she took them on because she’d knew they’d know how to properly chart a patient,” Steve said.

Given her passion for nursing, it’s no surprise that Gina wanted to help advance the profession. Together, Steve and Gina documented an estate commitment to Mizzou to establish two professorships – one in the Sinclair School of Nursing and one in the Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business. Supporting the professorships is a perfect legacy for Gina, who continued learning — and teaching — even after her cancer diagnosis. She held onto her passion for education until her death in 2015 at the age of 50.

“The school’s only as good as its educators, is what Gina would have said,” Steve noted.

Inspired by Gina’s commitment to supporting the nursing school, Gina’s college roommate and fellow BSN alumna, Kira Seabolt, BSN’86, established The Gina Tutera Lanham Memorial Scholarship in Nursing. Steve continues to support Gina’s scholarship on an annual basis.

In March 2025, counting toward Mizzou Giving Day, Steve updated the value of their bequest to more than $5 million. Steve’s continued commitment to philanthropy has earned him the Citation of Merit from the Trulaske College of Business. He is also a member of the Davenport Society, the Nightingale Society, the Jefferson Club, the MU Legacy Society and the 1914 Society.

Dividing the contribution between the Sinclair School of Nursing and the Trulaske College of Business serves a fitting tribute to an unwavering partnership between graduates of the two academic units. The nurse had plenty to teach the accountant, which he put to good use throughout his career: Have a plan and have a backup plan. Be the one who speaks calmly and clearly. Never freak out. And most importantly, don’t sweat the small stuff—and it’s all small stuff.

 On behalf of the Sinclair School of Nursing and the Trulaske College of Business, we thank Steve and Gina Lanham for honoring their legacy in such a meaningful way. Just as their lives were built on a partnership, this gift unites our two schools in preparing the next generation of nurses and business leaders. We are grateful for their generosity and the lasting impact it will create.