(Rose) Urbana Spink

(1879-July 5, 1952). Rose Urbana Spink was born in Loogootee, Indiana to Urban and Rosanna Morgan Spink. The family moved to Bloomington, Indiana in 1895 so the four Spink daughters (Mary (1862-1939), Urbana, Everesta (1881-1975), and Bonaventura (1887-1947)) could attend Indiana University (IU). After finishing her studies at IU, Urbana Spink attended the Philadelphia Women’s Medical School where she specialized in neuropsychiatry. 

In 1903 Spink came to Indianapolis to work at Neuronhurst sanatorium (formerly known as the W. B. Fletcher Sanatorium for the mentally ill) alongside her sister, Dr. Mary Spink. Urbana Spink sat on the board of directors and served as the vice president. The medical community considered the sisters pioneers in the treatment of mental illnesses. Spink worked at the sanatorium until its closure in 1941. She retired from medicine a year later. 

In 1947 Spink and another sister, Bonaventura Spink Cunniff were caught in a blizzard in the Great Smokey Mountains while driving back to Indianapolis from Biloxi, Mississippi. Spink’s car stalled in a snowdrift, forcing the sisters to walk in search of safety. Cunniff froze to death during the walk. Spink suffered from severe exposure but survived the ordeal. A business associate of Spinks brought her back to Indianapolis where she recovered at the Spink-Arms Hotel.  

Before her death in 1952, Spink was noted for her civic and professional leadership of many organizations in Indianapolis. In addition to her work as a brain specialist, Spink was a business partner of her brother Edgar Spink (1867-1927) who built and owned hotels and apartments in and around Indianapolis. She was majority owner of the Spink-Wawasee Hotel in Syracuse, Indiana, general manager and president of the Spink-Arms Hotel Corporation, and general manager and president of General Apartments, Inc. located at 22 W. Vermont Street in Indianapolis. The latter firm controlled seven large apartment buildings in Indianapolis. 

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