We Remember

On this page we remember U.S. Cadet Nurses who have passed on and where they received their training in nursing. If you are a daughter, son, niece, nephew, grandchild, other relative, or friend of a deceased U.S. Cadet Nurse and would like to include your loved one on this page, please contact us.

Marjorie Pittsavage Marjorie Pittsavage Kelley
Waltham Hospital School of Nursing, Waltham, Massachusetts

May 29, 1927 - June 26, 2023

Marjorie L. "Midge" (Pittsavage) Kelley, 96, died at her home in Stoughton, surrounded by her beloved family on Monday, June 2, 2023. Born in Stoughton, she was a lifelong resident of Stoughton and was a graduate of Stoughton High School. She was also a graduate of Waltham Nursing School. Midge worked as a nurse in the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps during World War II and later as a nurse for several years before becoming a dedicated stay-at-home mother. She married James R. "Brud" Kelley, and together they spent over 65 years married and raised 4 loving children. She was member of the Stoughton Historical Society and the Robert Bartlett Society of Plymouth. Midge was known for her positive, unselfish outlook in all situations, and her generous ways. She enjoyed gardening, tending to her flowers, spending time with her beloved familiy, and a good piece of chocolate.

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Julia Steuart Rollins Julia Steuart Rollins
Union Protestant Hospital School of Nursing, Clarksburg, West Virginia

July 19, 1926 - November 13, 2017

Julia's daughter reports: 

Julia Steuart Rollins was my mother. She attended Union Protestant Hospital Nursing School from 1943 to 1946.

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Barbara Joan Banik Syzek Barbara Joan Banik Syzek
University of Minnesota School of Nursing, Minneapolis, Minnesota

September 30, 1928 - January 16, 2023

Barbara Joan Banik graduated with a diploma in Nursing from the University of Minnesota (9/30/1948). Then he worked at the VA and Cook County Hospital, Chicago, and at the University of Illinois Research and Education Department; She graduated from the University of Kentucky with a Master's degree in Medical/Surgical Nursing (1974). In 1986 she graduated with a Ph.D. in Nursing from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Oho. She worked at Otterbein Nursing Home-Lebanon, Ohio. She was a Nursing Instructor at Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio. She started the first Adult Day Health Center in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Barbara served on the Nursing faculty at the University of Massachusetts at Amhers (1985-1994). She worked as a Clinical Nurse Specialist since 1997 and as a Geriatric Resource Nurse on the Staff of the Medical Behavioral Unit at the Franklin Medical Center, Greenfield, Massachusetts, where she received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Nursing (June 1999). Barbara Banik retired from the Nursing profession - Cooley-Dickinson, Northampton, Massachusetts (2006). Barbara sought to expand her clinical nursing experience and teaching qualifications, focusing on the care of elderly pations with Alzheimer's/Senile Dementia. She received the Florence Nightingale Award for Nursing (August 2022).

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Barbara Banik's Cadet Nurse Corps Membership Card

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read more about Barbara's life and accomplishments: 

Lifetime Achievement Award

Lifetime Achievement Award (continuned)

Highlights

Highlights (continued)

 

Maryland Cadet Nurses Recognized January 3, 2023: 

Maryland Cadet Nurse Day January 2 2023

 

 

 

 

Nellie Drye Phariss Nellie Drye Phariss
University of Oklahoma School of Nursing, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

April 23, 1926 - July 28, 2020

Phariss, Nellie Mildred (Drye), 94, of Lakewood, Colorado, passed away at The Lakewood Reserve, her recent home, on July 28, 2020.  She was born April 23, 1926 to Dovie and Wallace Drye on the Wilson farm northwest of Crescent, Oklahoma.  She was the oldest of four children (Jimmy, Ila Faye and Victor).  She married Lloyd Murray Phariss on September 2, 1949, whom she met on a blind date set up by her nursing school roommate.  The engagement party arranged by her nursing school friends included telling her to hurry home from a date with Lloyd because her best friend was very sick and the rest of them didn’t know what to do.  When she rushed to the bedside, she found the blanket to be covering all of their engagement gifts with many giggling nurses nearby to turn the event into a party.

Nellie graduated from Crescent High School and went on to graduate with a B.S. from the School of Nursing, University of Oklahoma, in 1947.   Before nursing school, she worked for one year at Tinker Field in Midwest City as a counting specialist.  She was a member of the United States Cadet Nurse Corps during World War II.  She fulfilled the Cadet Nurses pledge by serving in the iron lung ward at University of Oklahoma Hospital.  She was one of the first nurses trained to treat patients using an iron lung in Oklahoma.  Her academic program was to complete four years of coursework in three years while working full-time at the hospital.  It was grueling work that she loved.  Nellie utilized her nurse training to rehabilitate polio victims during the devastating epidemic, including her younger brother.  She hot-packed his leg on schedule to save partial use of his leg for the remainder of his life.

She was proud of helping many as a nurse and she worked as a nurse until retirement in 1983.  Among her positions over the years, her favorites were working on the boy’s ward at the Children’s Hospital in Oklahoma City and, later in her career, in Denver’s geriatric hospital, Beth Israel Hospital .  She was a resident of Golden, Colorado for 47 years.  Nellie was an active member of Mountair Christian Church.

Nellie is survived by twins Tracy Van Phariss (Howard) of Lakewood, Colorado and Dr. Bruce Wallace Phariss (Sheila) of Montclair, NJ, grandchildren Jenna Lanoff (Keith/Donna), Francesca Peila-Phariss (Keith/Khalila), Ryan, Colin and Bridget Phariss (Bruce/Sheila), great-grandchildren Brenda and Johnny (Francesca) and her brother Victor Drye (Lily).  She has many nieces and nephews and other relatives in Oklahoma.   Nellie was preceded in death by Lloyd in 2018, oldest son Lloyd Murray Phariss II (Laurie) in 2009, second oldest son Keith Allen Phariss (Donita) in 2015 and daughter Teresa Gaynell Phariss  in 1998.

Internment will be at Oakland-Knowles Cemetery in Crescent, Oklahoma with Abernathy-Aaron Funeral Home at a later date.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Virginia Eswine Virginia Eswine
St. Louis City Hospital School of Nursing, St. Louis, Missouri

July 14, 1926 - January 27, 2017

Virginia Eswine was born July 1926 in Shawneetown IL. Everyone knew she wanted to be a nurse. Upon graduation from High School she went straight to the Cadet Nursing Program. She practiced nursing until  1979 when she retired early to nurse her aging parents. She never married, but was there for everyone in her family when they needed her during illness or infirmity. She lived to be 91 years of age and ironically, passed away in the arms of another nurse while recovering in the hospital from dialysis set up.

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Charlotte Reinaman Babcock Charlotte Reinaman Babcock
Garfield Memorial Hospital, Washington, D.C.

January 2, 1924 - December 10, 2020

Charlotte was a career RN, beginning her career in the Corps.  She passed in December 2020 at the age of 96.  She had 3 children, 5 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren.

 

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Elizabeth Ann Schupay Morrison Elizabeth Ann Schupay Morrison
Mercy School of Nursing, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

February 9, 1926 - April 27, 2020

ELIZABETH ANN MORRISON, “BETTY,” (Age 94), passed away on Monday, April 27, 2020 at her home in Ashburn, VA. She was born in Monaca, PA on February 9, 1926 and graduated from Monaca High School in 1944. She went to the Mercy School of Nursing in Pittsburgh, PA and joined the Cadet Nurse Corps. She graduated in September 1947 becoming a Registered Nurse working at Mercy Hospital. She married James F. Morrison on September 6, 1948.


Betty followed Jim eventually settling in Alexandria, VA in 1967. She resumed her nursing career at Alexandria Hospital in 1968 where she worked for 20+ years until she retired. During these years she fought and survived breast cancer. Betty lived for travel and always had a bag packed, ready to depart for the next adventure. She eventually saw much of the world—Asia, Iran, former Soviet Bloc countries, Egypt, Israel, Argentina and nearly all of Europe. But always, closest to her heart, was Ireland—anywhere in Ireland. She was a volunteer at George Washington’s Mount Vernon and loved zipping around in her 280Z, always on the go.

Marion Twiss Mary Frances Twiss Emerson
St. Anthony's Hospital School of Nursing, Denver, Colorado

January 17, 1928 - May 5, 2015

Mary Frances Twiss, my mother, was in the Cadet Nurse Corps and graduated in 1948. Mary studied at St. Anthony's Hospital in Denver, Colorado. She kept a photo album of which I have scanned many of the photos.

She married Scott Emerson, my dad, who was in the US Air Force. They had a family of 7 children. Mary and Scott lived in Silver City, New Mexico; San Antonio, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Spokane, Washington; and finally National City, California.

Mary Frances Twiss Emerson passed away on May 5, 2015, in her home surrounded by her children.

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Nurse EmersonCadet Nurse EmersonClass photo

Portrait of Betty Lou (Collier) Platt Betty Lou (Collier) Platt
Warren City Hospital / Trumbill Memorial Hospital, Warren, Ohio

September 23, 1926 - October 10, 2016

Betty Lou's daughter writes: 

My mom was a Cadet Nurse graduating in 1946. She was a child of the Depression and probably never would have been able to go to nursing school if not for this program.  The war ended before she served. She married, had 5 children, and worked as a nurse for 40+ years, primarily as an industrial nurse for General Motors.  Two of her daughters graduated from the same nursing school. She passed away 10/10/16 at the age of 90. She was an awesome nurse, mother, and grandmother. We miss her every day.

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Mary Therese Power Paynter Mary Therese Power Paynter
Loyola University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

February 7, 1926 -  January 24, 2014

Mary Therese's daughter writes: 

Mary Therese (nee Power) Paynter served in the US Cadet Nurse Corps from 1944-1947 at Loyola University of Chicago, St. Bernard's Hospital Unit.

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Edith Powell Trapp Edith Powell Tripp
Whidden Memorial Hospital, Everett, Massachusetts

December 30, 1924 - March 16, 2018

Edith in Front of the Hospital

Edith graduated from High School in 1942; she was 18. 

Most of the boys in her class had left school after Pearl Harbor was bombed.

She tried several jobs, but wanted to be a teacher. With no money for school it was not possible.  A friend suggested nursing school with free room and board.

She enrolled February 8, 1943, at Whidden Memorial Hospital Nursing School in her hometown of Everett, Massachusetts.

In September 1943 she became a Cadet Nurse when  her nursing school became part of the government program expediting the nursing course from 36 months to 30 months.  The nurses were also paid eight dollars a month. When she was a senior nursing student in December 1944,she was assigned to Camp Edwards on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.  There she worked at the Convalescent Hospital.  She cared for American servicemen and German prisoners of war.  The camp had 2500 German prisoners at any one time. The prisoners in the beginning were mostly German pilots who did not believe that Germany was losing the war. Near the end of the war many of the prisoners in the hospital were German boys of age 15 and 16.  War supplies such as blankets and robes, socks and towels began to run short.  Due to the Geneva Convention rules, the German prisoners were given the supplies first; many US servicemen went without. By the end of the war 5000 German prisoners had been cared for at Camp Edwards. Returning US servicemen were processed into the camp for care before discharge. By 1946 12,900 US soldiers had been through the hospital. 

The average age of the nurses there was 19.  They worked 70 hours a week. 

After the war Edith married and settled on Cape Cod, continuing her nursing career as a head nurse in a local hospital. She passed away at age 94, extremely proud of her wartime service.

Edith'a Membership Card

 

Portrait of Lois Rauch Adams Lois Rauch Adams
Polyclinic Hospital

Died May 21, 2018

Linda Patrick Rauch writes:

I am writing this on behalf of my aunt, Lois Rauch Adams. She was born in Palmyra, Pennsylvania in 1927 and went to Polyclinic Hospital. She joined the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps, but never actually served [in the military] because the war was over before she graduated. She was a wife of a Navy pilot, and traveled and worked around the world. Her recent work was in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she and her husband retired.

I followed in her footsteps and also became a nurse.

Mary Jean McGlone Ahearn
St. Margaret's School of Nursing, Boston, Massachusetts

Passed away September 28, 2018.

Assigned to Fort Devens, Ayer, MA, April 1, 1945, as a senior cadet nurse. Married Navy commander MJ Ahearn. 7 children. Passed away at the age of 95 after 71 years of marriage. Interred National Cemetery, Bourne, Mssachusetts.

Doreathea Pistor Milne Doreathea Leona Pistor Milne
Hartwick College, Oneonta, New York

Passed away on November 15, 2017

Doreathea Leona Pistor passed away on Wednesday, November 15th at age 91. She was surrounded by her family and beloved caregiver, Fabiola Louis. Doreathea graduated from Memphum High School in Bellmore, New York and graduated with a summa cum laude B.S.N. degree in Nursing from Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York in 1948 and later earned her Master's Degree in Nursing from Stony Brook. Upon graduation, her aim was to serve her country in the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps. The Second World War ended, and she began a fifty-year career in Nursing starting at Southampton Hospital. Her lifelong love of science subsequently led her to work at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the U.S. Government's top secret experimental program in nuclear medicine. She returned to hospital work at Riverhead and St. Charles hospitals and later transition-ed to school nursing in the Longwood School District in order for her schedule to accommodate her three active children. Doreathea was always busy and giving, whether at St. Mark's Lutheran Church, the Red Cross or dozens of other faith and medicine based charities.

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Margaret Stapleton Carlson
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota

October 5, 1922 - May 23, 2012

Margaret Stapleton Carlson passed away suddenly with family members by her side. She is survived by three children, James Carlson (Annette), Jean Carlson, and Kay Yoshida (Roy), and two grandchildren Jaimie and Jessica. Margaret began her nursing career as a member of the U.S. Cadet Nurses Corps, and graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Nursing in 1947. She also held a Masters Degree in Education. In Hibbing, MN she worked for the St. Louis County Health department as a Public Health Nurse, and as a Private Duty Nurse. In 1966 following the death of her Husband Kenneth, she relocated her family to the Twin Cities area and joined the Anoka-Hennepin School District where she worked as a School Nurse and Healthcare Professional for 25 years until her retirement in 1991.

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Portrait of Florence Waters Florence Waters
Fitzsimmons Army Hospital, Denver, Colorado

March 4, 1924 - July 19, 2017

I was a U.S. Cadet Nurse in 1944 and 1945 and completed my nursing at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Denver, Colorado (1945).

A group of us VA nurses contacted as many as we could and got a bill passed in Congress that allowed nurses that worked in V.A. or government hospitals to add the years of service in Cadet Corps to their retirement -- if they were employed by federal government.

We were invited to attend the 50th anniversary of Cadet Nurses in Washington, D.C.

We did this before computers, but were able to contact many V.A. nurses around the country.

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Photo of Evangeline L Angel Whitley Evangeline L Angel Whitley
Deaconess Hospital, Evansville, Indiana

I am Elisabeth A. Leasure, daughter of Cadet Nurse  Evangeline L. Angel (Whitley). I'm entering my mother's cadet nursing information on this site on her behalf. My mother passed away Sept 5, 2013.   Many knew her as "Angie" or her last name, Angel. She absolutely loved being a nurse and was so very proud to have been in the cadet nurse program at Deaconess Hospital in Evansville, Indiana. She went on to earn her Bachelors in Nursing at University of Evansville, her Master's Degree in Public Health from the University of Michigan, and her PhD in Health Education from Florida State University. She retired from the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, GA, in the 1990's and moved to Gainesville, GA, where she volunteered to help shut-Ins.

Photo of Mary Elizabeth Richards Mary Elizabeth Richards
Bethesda School of Nursing, Cincinnati, Ohio

Passed away December 22, 2014

Mary Elizabeth's son wrote:

Though she passed away on December 22, 2014, Mary was a graduate of Reesville High School's Class of 1941 and received her RN Degree from Bethesda School of Nursing, Cincinnati, OH in 1947 where she served jointly in the Cadet Nurse Corps from 1944-47. She completed her degree in Public Health Nursing from George Peabody College and mission studies at Scarritt College for Christian Workers, Nashville, TN. Following her training and start of nursing duties in Nashville, she was married on June 6, 1953, and moved to West Virginia where she and Marvan raised their family. There, Mary completed a 41-year nursing career that included, among others, public health nursing care in a number of counties and rural communities, duties as a Maternal and Infant Care Nurse, and, in her later career, the evaluation of nursing home care for the State of West Virginia.

Photo of Phyllis Yoder Myers Phyllis Yoder Myers
Epworth Hospital School of Nursing, South Bend, Indiana

Passed away April 22, 2017

Phyllis' daughter wrote:

My mother, Phyllis (Yoder) Myers, trained at Epworth Hospital in South Bend, Indiana, during World War II. She was proud of her service in the Corps and was proud to serve her country. The training and values instilled during this time served her well for 92 years. It was her honor and joy to be a cadet nurse. She passed away April 22, 2017, in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Amelia Prillerman on the night desk phone Amelia Prillerman
City Hospital School of Nursing, Cleveland, Ohio

August 22, 1926 - June 6, 2016

Amelia's daughter wrote: 

Amelia's membership cardMy mom graduated from West High School in Columbus, Ohio, at 15. She had to wait 3 years to join the Corps. By the time my mother joined the Cadet Nurse Corps on October 2, 1944, the quota restricting the enlistment of American African women to 56 enlistees had been lifted. She trained at City Hospital, now Metro, in Cleveland, Ohio. She completed her training April 2, 1947.

Mom worked in psychiatric and geriatric nursing. In 1978 she earned a BS in Nursing from Ohio University. She retired from the Veteran's Administration in 1988. She passed away June 6, 2016, at 89, in Columbus, Ohio.

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Portrait of Helen Dora Parris Miller in Cadet Nurse uniform Helen Dora Parris Miller
Muhlenberg Hospital School of Nursing, Muhlenberg, Pennsylvania

Passed away November 14, 2016

Mrs. Helen Dora Parris, 92, a parishioner at St. Matthias' Episcopal Church in Midlothian and a registered nurse who retired from McGuire Veteran's Administration Hospital, peacefully passed away on November 14, at Vinson Hall Retirement Community in McLean, Va. A proud member of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps, she was among the first group of women to enlist in 1943. She fulfilled the cadet nurse pledge to serve in essential nursing for the duration of the war through her work at Muhlenberg Hospital and at Camp Kilmer, the largest World War II processing center for U.S. and Allied troops leaving or returning from European duty.

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Alice Rogers
Westmoreland Hospital School of Nursing, Greensburg, Pennsylvania

Virginia Bouchard wrote: 

My aunt Alice Rogers was a Cadet Nurse trained at Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. She graduated in 1946.

Portrait of Martha-Jane Ekstrand Martha-Jane Ekstrand
Roger Williams General Hospital School of Nursing, Providence, Rhode Island

September 19, 1926 - September 3, 2016

Martha-Jane worked at the neighborhood drug store during high school. She also published service information in the Greenwood News, a small local paper providing location and news of service men and women. After graduating from high school in 1943, she enrolled in the Roger Williams General Hospital School of Nursing in Providence, RI, where she was a member of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps. She had affiliations with the Yale School of Nursing and the State Mental Hospital. She was one of six in her class who spent six months of training at a USVA Hospital. MJ worked at the USVA Hospital in the Bronx, NY, and after graduation worked there as a Staff Nurse on the Thoracic Surgery unit.After the war she sailed as a Ship's Nurse aboard the USAT General Harry Taylor out of New York. The ship carried 1200+ displaced persons from camps in Europe to ports in the USA and Australia. During the '50s and '60s, she worked in the airline industry as flight nurse or flight attendant. She also held administrative positions based in Amman, Jordan; West Berlin, Germany; and Shannon, Ireland.In the '70s and '80s, MJ held administrative positions related to nursing. She retired in 1988 as Director of Risk Management and Loss Control at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.

MJ's papers are available at the University of Minnesota Immigration History Research Center archives.

Portrait of Rosemary Theresa McCarthy Rosemary Theresa McCarthy
McLean Hospital School of Nursing, Waverly, Massachusetts

June 21, 1926 - June 7, 2012

Barbara Brodie, PhD, RN, FAAN, and Eleanor Bjoring, PhD, RN, wrote this tribute, which appeared in the January 2014 issue of Nursing History Review.

On June 7, 2012, a dear friend and fellow nursing historian Rosemary McCarthy quietly died at the Sacred Heart Home in Hyattsville, Maryland, 19 days shy of her 86th birthday. The only child of Mary and Thomas McCarthy, Rosemary was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1926. A bright, talented, energetic, and serious young woman, she graduated from the Arlington High School on D-day, June 6, 1944. This was an important date for Rosemary because Allied troops were landing in France that day to begin the liberation of Europe from German occupation. Such a coincidence may have foretold her future.

Unsure of what she wanted to do with her life, she considered being a physical therapist, artist, or nurse. Because her family was of modest financial circumstances, she selected nursing. At the time, hospital diploma schools of nursing charged little if any tuition. She first applied to the famous Massachusetts General Hospital School of Nursing but was rejected because they had already "accepted their quota of Irish Catholic Students." She was not upset about this decision because the school also used quotas for Jewish and African American students. Encouraged by a family friend who was a nurse, she applied to the McLean Hospital School of Nursing in nearby Waverly. Admitted in 1945, she joined the school's U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps Program because it provided her tuition, uniforms, and books, plus a stipend. In return, upon graduation she was required to serve as a military nurse if needed. Her serving as a cadet nurse during World War II, made Rosemary feel that she was, as other fellow Americans, answering the needs of her county.

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Portrait of Lois Armstrong Pritt in Cadet Nurse Corps uniform Lois Armstrong Pritt
Davis Memorial Hospital, Elkins, West Virginia

April 26, 1925 - July 20, 2000

Lois Armstrong Pritt's membership card

Lois was Betty Jane Linn's classmate.

Margaret Hebert Berian
Quincy City Hospital, Quincy, Massachusetts

September 22, 1912 - September 15, 2003.

Jane Hebert Mudge recalls her aunt's story:

Aunt Margaret was my father's younger sister. She had her 90th birthday on September 30, 2002. That means she would be 104 years old if she survived until today, Monday, June 27, 206. During the early 1900s, she was the oldet daughter of 3 brothers and two sisters. They all lived with their parents in a house near the West Quincy quarries. Remarkably, several other family members, visiting Irish relatives and friends, found a welcoming place and stayed there too, as many others did in those needy, "Great Depression" times.

In the late 20s, whle Margaret was still in school, she worked as a page at the West Quincy branch library. After graduation she was employed full time, first at the Norfolk Down's branch and also as a substitute librarian at other locations, as needed.

Later she worked on a regular daily schedule at the main library's "Richardson" building in Quincy Square. Until 1943 when she entered the Cadet nursing program at the city hospital she was assigned to the Music Department, which was located in a small room at the top of the library stairs. There she helped establish one of the few libraries with music recordings and equipment available to the public, where machines could be used to listen to records in soundproof, private, auditing rooms.

Margaret would give record concerts in the evenings with commentary about the musical offerings. She was allowed to travel to the Boston Music Company and research whatever she could find in print, of the many classical and contemporary musical pieces available. The company's helpful employees introduced her to the "gramophone record compilations" which aided in the historical basis she needed to catalog the entire group of recordings.

During this time Margaret was hired and continued in her musical interests as the organist at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Quincy, where she gathered a detailed knowledge of church and organ music.

As you can guess by the dates above, Margaret entered the Cadet Nursing program rather late, and was older than most of her classmates. She was 31 years old. But when World War II happened and her brothers and uncles were entering the Navy and the Army, she felt a need to do something to help out the war effort herself.

At her 90th birthday, I gave Margaret several gifts, one was a book entitled, Cadet Nurse Stories, which tells the tales of some of those Corps members who were organized to provide for the urgent need for nurses during World War II.

After becoming a nurse, and the war having ended in 1945, Margaret was inspired to go further in her career and became a physical therapist. She trained at Columbia University in New York, helping with the well known Sister Kenny nurses, to rehabilitate polio victims during that devastating epidemic, before the Salk, and other vaccines to prevent polio were perfected.

While in New York, she met her future husband, married, and had 3 children. They moved to Hartford, Connecticut, where the family remained while the kids were growing up. During that time she worked as a school nurse and made many friends in the profession and in the community. One of her twin daughters, Claire, born when Margaret was well into her 40s, studied and became a doctor of veterinary medicine, graduating from Cornell University where she met, and eventually married, a philosophy professor.

When Margaret retired she continued to enjoy playing the piano and entertained at local nursing and retirement homes, singing, along with her husband, to the old, familiar tunes of the 30s, 40s, and 50s.

I'll always rmember her giving me my first book. It was a book of poetry by Robert Lewis Stevenson, A Child's Garden of Verses. I recall this line especially, "The world is so full of so many things, I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings." 

Margaret certainly made that statement come true in her own life, as so many of her peers did. She was always a special mentor to me. I, too, beame a nurse, graduating from the same nursing school at the Quincy City Hospital, way back in 1954, not very long after Margaret had become a Cadet. And I also enjoy singing at local nursing hoes and other venues, as well as being a member of the poetry group that meets monthly at the Quincy Thomas Crane Public Library.

Thanks for listening.

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Photo of Betty Jane Linn Hull Betty Jane Linn Hull
Davis Memorial Hospital, Elkins, West Virginia

Betty Jane Linn Hull's Cadet Nurse membership cardMarch 7, 1925 - September 19, 2003

Betty Jane Linn Hull's memorial

Betty Jane's daughter writes: 

My mother, Betty Jane Linn Hull, attended the U.S. Cadet Nursing program at Davis Memorial Hospital, Elkins, West Virginia. She attended from September 15, 1943 - September 28, 1946. While attending the program, she also received training at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. After graduation, she wed, had 2 children, and continued her nursing career, choosing to specialize in nursing of the mentally ill. She worked at Torrance State Hospital in Pennsylvania for a few years. We moved to the Philadelphia area, where she worked as a Nurse Supervisor at the Byberry State Hospital in Northeast Philadelphia for 20 years. She loved nursing and was a healer to all whom she came in touch with.

Ruth (Betty) Henceforth Place
Mt. Sinai School of Nursing

Ruth's daughter writes: 

My mother was a graduate of Mt. Sinai School of Nursing in 1946 in the Cadet Nurse program. I am unable to locate her graduation picture and have a question regarding if she used her maiden or married name while in training. I remember hearing a few stories as a child, such as hush hush bridal shower by her classmates in the student resident dorm. A friend of mine, Jeanne Bryner, RN, is an author and is writing a book of student nursing experiences as an anthology. My Mom was a very special nurse and worked at Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Warren, Ohio, for over 40 years and was a very special person.

Portrait of Harriett Stinson Johnston in uniform Harriett Stinson Johnston
University of Washington, Harborview Division

Harriett's membership card

Harriett Stinson Johnston's cousin writes that Harriett passed away on November 2, 2015, at age 92 in Tacoma, Washington. She worked as an RN up until retirement in both the private sector and in Public Health for the State of Washington. He also reports that he has a copy of her #300A form that shows her graduation of 8/26/45. She told him that she was scheduled to enter the Navy but World War II ended. Harriett was again contacted by the Navy during the Korean War for induction into active service. Because her status had changed to married with children, however, Harriett was not eligible.

Harriett in hospital uniform

 

Dorothy F. Jasiecki
New York University, New York, New York

October 30, 1925 - April 25, 2015

Dorothy Jasiecki trained to be a nurse and went on to a long career as a teacher. She lived in Brooklyn, Florida, and Arizona.  Said one of her students: 

I had Miss J for 9th grade English & 12th grade was in her homeroom my senior year at Norland- graduating in 1962- I was also a charter member of the Future Nurses Club. My Miss J was my inspiration to go on to become a nurse & then later I became a teacher of nurses.

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Carol Moon Goldsworthy
Sacred Heart/Allegany Hospital Nursing School, Cumberland, Maryland

January 6, 1924 - August 11, 2015

I appreciate the Cadet Nurse Corps for the education that I received and the experiences that it provided in my nursing career.

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Portrait of Hilda Louise Booterbaugh Stasik Hilda Louise Booterbaugh Stasik
Atlantic City Hospital School of Nursing

Mary 11, 1923 - July 28, 1997

Ray Schaffranek writes: 

Hilda with patientsHilda Louise Booterbaugh, my mother-in-law, served as a Cadet Nurse for three years during World War II.  She was born May 11, 1923, in Coupon, Pennsylvania, the middle daughter of Martin and Thelma (Donoughe) Booterbaugh. Hilda graduated from Woodbury High School, New Jersey, on June 11, 1941; attended Philadelphia School of Auditing; and graduated from Atlantic City Hospital School of Nursing on May 26, 1946. During World War II, she served in the U. S. Cadet Nurse Corps from July 1, 1943, to May 26, 1946, performing nursing duties at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Hilda married John Stasik of Coupon, Pennsylvania, in 1947, and in 1948 they gave birth to their only child, a daughter Susan, whom I married in 1969. Hilda’s husband-to-be received a Purple Heart for wounds he received on the morning of October 20, 1944, at Leyte Gulf as his amphibious assault craft helped secure the beachhead in advance of the landing of General Douglas MacArthur during the liberation of the Philippines.  From her start in Cadet nursing, Hilda went on to receive a degree in public school nursing from Indiana State Teachers College, Pennsylvania, on August 18, 1957. In subsequent years, she pursued graduate studies and attended professional development workshops at Columbia and Penn State Universities. Hilda retired from Greater Gallitzin Joint and Penn Cambria High Schools in Pennsylvania on June 3, 1988, after serving 35 years as a public school nurse. Hilda was a Registered Nurse in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey. She was a member of the Descendants of Civil War Veterans of Blair County, Pennsylvania, and a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church, Coupon, PA. Hilda Louise (Booterbaugh) Stasik passed away on July 28, 1997, after a nine-month battle with cancer and is buried next to her husband in St. Joseph Cemetery, Coupon, Pennsylvania.

Hilda's Graduating Class picture 1946

Betty Ruth Wilber Pixley

May 3, 1926 - July 5, 2015

Cristen Pascucci writes: 

My grandmother, Betty Ruth (Wilber) Pixley, passed away at 89 years old. She was a registered nurse for over 50 years after training as a Cadet Nurse beginning in 1944. She helped fight for Cadet Nurses to be considered veterans, an effort I see continues all these many years later.

My grandmother was a pistol and an inspiration.

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Portrait of Marguerite Ann Yulo Sgro Marguerite Ann Yulo Sgro
Grace Hospital School of Nursing, New Haven, Connecticut

February 24, 1926 - August 13, 2014

Ann Marie Gianotti writes: 

My dear friend and neighbor, Marguerite was in the Cadet Nurse Corps and graduated Grace Hospital in 1947 as a registered nurse. She worked in all three City of New Haven hospitals. She also worked at the Knights of Columbus for fifteen years in the membership department. She handled public relations for the West Haven Symphony Orchestra and the Spirit Alive Chorale.

Marguerite mentioned her duties while training, how she made sure to be very precise in her reports to the doctors she worked with at that time. She would say, "there were no computers!" She would say the pay was low ($1.00 a week she said) but her passion for nursing and her faith was what gave her the love of service to others. She is truly missed.

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Ann Marie is in her last year of nursing school and graduates in fall 2015!

Agnes Jane Yettke
Iowa Methodist School of Nursing, Des Moines, Iowa

November 22, 1923 - July 30, 1996

Thelma Williams Varnado
Hotel Dieu, New Orleans, Louisiana

May 19, 1926 - March 22, 2009

Class of 1944 
Cairo High School, Cairo, IL
1944 - 1947   
U.S. Nursing Cadet Corp
Class of 1947 
Hotel Dieu School of Nursing
4/19/1948   
Married Roy Fred Varnado of Osyka, MS in Chicago, IL
8/12/1949     
Birth of first child Laura Ella Varnado in Bruce, MS
11/22/1950   
Death of Laura Ella Varnado in Oxford, MS
1950 - 1951  
Worked at University of Mississippi Student Health Center in Oxford, MS
1951 - 1961  
Worked in hospital and clinic in Charleston, MS
June 1954     
Birth of second daughter in Memphis, TN
August 1956  
Birth of son in Memphis, TN
1962 - 1965  
Worked in Bogalusa Medical Center Surgery Department
1965 - 1984  
Riverside Medical Center in Franklinton, LA
1965            
Hired as OR & Labor Supervisor to set up surgery suite for opening of hospital
1966            
Served as OR & Labor Supervisor
1966            
Appointed as Acting Administrator
1967 - 1984 
Served as Director of Nursing
1984 - 1987 
PRN in South Louisiana area
6/8/1985     
Son's Marriage
1987 - 2009 
Volunteer Receptionist Franklinton Head Start
1/9/1991     
Birth of Grandson
9/11/2001   
Death of Husband in Franklinton, LA
3/22/2009   
Died in Covington, LA

 

Edith Estelle Whitt Mullins
The Knoxville General Hospital School of Nursing, Knoxville, Tennessee

Edith Estelle Whitt Mullins, age 88, a lifelong resident of Cedar Bluff, Va., died Friday, December 30, 2011. Mrs. Mullins was born February 13, 1923, the second of seven children of the late George Dewey and Annie Steele Whitt. Mrs. Mullins was a registered nurse, a graduate of Richlands High School (class of 1942) and The Knoxville General Hospital School of Nursing (class of 1945) where she was a member of the U.S. Cadet Nursing Corps. Mrs. Mullins retired from Clinch Valley Clinic/Medical Center in Richlands in 1988 with over 40 years of professional service.

Edith’s nursing demeanor and her life can best be described as one of total unselfishness and caring. She was at her best giving, loving, and serving with compassion and kindness. She will forever be loved and remembered by those whose lives she touched for those endearing qualities.

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Portrait of Merilyn Rose White Pezzuto Merilyn Rose White Pezzuto
St. Josephs School of Nursing, San Francisco, California

Merilyn marching at Dibble Hospital in San Francisco, CARosemary Pezzuto, Merilyn's daughter writes: 

Merilyn Rose White Pezzuto RN, 1923-2014 served proudly as a member of the Cadet Nurse Corp at Dibble Hospital in Menlo Park, California. She has shared stories and memories of this very important experience. These stories included stories about patients that she came to love and the struggles that they experience due to their time in foxholes, defending our freedom, and the anguish that they had about being injured and not being able to continue the fight.   Often she shared stories of the friendships she had with other nurse corps members and the importance that those friendships had not only during the difficult times of the war but even to her adulthood.   Many of the skills of leadership, service, and commitment came from the time spent in the Corps.

The role models she became inspired many young people. Each of her six children modeled some gift that she learned though her life. Her daughter Eileen studied nursing and went on to be involved in nursing administration. She is currently the regional VP of care coordination at Sutter Health in San Francisco. Her granddaughter, and Eileen’s daughter Sarah too entered the field of nursing is following her grandmothers commitment to health care as a practicing nurse at John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek, California. She is currently working on her Masters degree at the University of California, San Francisco. Merilyn also inspired many including her daughter Rosemary who followed her footsteps into the military and served 20 years in the US Coast Guard. Her sons Don and Tom went into business and have served the community through their work. Cici inspires young people through her job as a career counselor—something she watched her mom do as she mentored many young people through her lifetime. Mary has spent the recent years as a consultant and using her creativity to serve in the community. Each of these attributes came from the knowledge, Skills and Abilities that Merilyn learned in those important years as Cadet Nurse.

Merilyn loved the nurse corps and what it stood for. Over the years, she wished that more could have been done to recognize the important work the corps did for the war effort. The attached pictures are of mom as a Cadet and of them marching at Dibble. She often felt that the Veterans Administration and Congress should have elevated the importance of the role and validated it with recognition of the service these individuals provided. 
 
Merilyn Rose White Pezzuto died on May 27, 2014, in Walnut Creek California. She served in the Cadet Corps during WW2. She loved the corps and what it stood for. She was an amazing woman who had a strong impact on the world. She was stationed at Dibble Army Hospital San Francisco for her service.
 
Merilyn attended St. Josephs School of Nursing, San Francisco, California. After her graduation from St. Josephs, she went on to complete a degree at Dominican College of San Rafael where she used her nursing skills as the college nurse providing health care to the students and faculty of the college.
 
About Dibble Army Hospital---The hospital was located on the estate of Mark Hopkins and affluent railroad and hotel man from California It was named after Col.John Dibble who was killed in an aircraft accident. Between 1943 and 1946 Dibble specialized in plastic surgery, blind care, neuro-psychiatry and orthopedics and at its peak it had 2,400 beds.
   
In June 1946 the hospital was transferred to the Federal Public Housing Authority.
 
 
Naomi M Whadcook Fitzpatrick
Westchester School of Nursing, Valhalla, NY

February 9, 1920 - March 1, 2009

Portrait of Patricia Wegemer Malin Patricia Wegemer Malin
Delaware State Hospital School of Nursing, Farnhurst, Delaware

March 17, 1922 - December 9, 2014

Norma Mattern writes: 

Photo of Patricia Wegemer Malin in May 2014My Mother, Patricia Wegemer Malin, was part of the Cadet Nurse Corp in the 1940s at the Delaware State Hospital.  She moved into Assisted Living last year and died unexpectedly and quietly in December 2014.  In going through the things in her home, we have found her Cadet Nurse cape, a gray hat, a summer skirt, and numerous photos and newspaper clippings.  Also have two binders full of very organized, hand-written class notes she made with incredible penmanship, performance evaluations, and other paperwork - such as a transcript of a radio program in October 1946, where she participated with several other Cadet friends, and a handwritten U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps oath.

Pattye Wegemer Malin on her birthday Marh 2014Elsie Szecsy writes: 

Thank you, Patricia and Norma, for entrusting me with these most valuable artifacts of service to our country and the nursing profession. I will take care of them. They are of deep interest to me in my work as a researcher as well as my role as daughter of a Cadet Nurse.This gift also reminds me of the need to archive these valuable artifacts of an important part of World War II history.

Photo of Eileen Elizabeth Wattman LaRivee Eileen Elizabeth Wattman LaRivee
Lynn Hospital School of Nursing, Lynn, Massachusetts

September 24, 1925 - April 13, 2011

Born September 24, 1925 in Lynn, MA to Thomas M. Wattman and Elizabeth (Beary) Wattman. Educated in the Lynn Public Schools and graduated from Lynn English High School in 1943. She served with the U.S. Public Health Service Cadet Nurse Corps, which was the largest group of uniformed women to serve in World War II, and did her training and work out of Lynn Hospital until 1945.

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Marian J. Eberly Wasnich Klingler
Flower Hospital School of Nursing

August 11, 1926 - October 26, 2013

Marian J. Wasnich Klingler was a 1944 graduate of Montpelier High School and a 1947 graduate of Flower Hospital School of Nursing. 

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Geraldine Wagner

Geraldine Wagner died in 1990.

Photo of Caroline Van Ormer Caroline Van Ormer
Springfield Memorial School of Nursing, Springfield, Illinois

June 16, 1922 - September 21, 2002

Admitted to the United States Cadet Nurse Corps: October 14, 1943

After graduation in 1946, married Lt. Charles Trimble, home on leave from the United States Air Force. Their children are Charles, Craig, and Carol.

Caroline worked private nursing in Johnstown and Memorial Booth Memorial Hospital, Covington, and Baptist Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky.

She retired in 1975.

Eleanore & Caroline Van Ormer

  

Caption: 

September 1943

Eleanore (left) and Caroline, daughters of Ralph and Irene Van Ormer formerly of Browning, have enlisted in the United States Cadet Nurse Corps. They will receive three years training at Springfield Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, Springfield, Illinois. Upon completion of their training they will be eligible to enlist as officers in one of the branches of the armed forces nurse corps.

 

 

Photo of Elsie F. Ulrich Szecsy Elsie F. Ulrich Szecsy
Westchester School of Nursing, Valhalla, NY

September 28, 1925 - June 19, 2005

Elsie Ulrich learned of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps while a student at Pleasantville High School in Westchester County, New York. She and her sister lived with an aunt, who took care of them after their previous caregiver left employment by their father. Her mother died in childbirth when she was 8, and in those days a man was ill-equipped to care for two daughters. Elsie's childhood was difficult, and she received little encouragement to pursue her dreams.

Elsie saw the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps as both a way to serve her country as was a means to improve her prospects as an emancipated adult at a time when achieving this status was difficult for women. She started Nursing School in 1943 and graduated in 1946. Her favorite specialties were surgical and psychiatric nursing. She continued working in the hospital where she trained until she married. When she and her husband moved to Queens, NY, for her husband's work as an industrial nurse with an airline, she continued her work in nursing at Queens General Hospital. When they moved to suburban Long Island and started a family, Elsie resigned her hospital nursing position to pursue a career as homemaker, caregiver, and encourager to her two children in reaching for a better life for themselves. Through her experience with the USCNC, Elsie had the knowledge to equip her children to work hard and do well in school so that they would be prepared for college.

Margaret DeSantis Tredici
Duquesne University (BS) and at Mercy Hospital School of Nursing, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Col. Thomas J. Tredici USAF MC (Ret) writes: 

I am husband of Margaret DeSantis Tredici RN (Deceased). She trained at Duquesne University (BS) and at Mercy Hospital School of Nursing Pittsburgh (RN). In 1945 she was a member of the Cadet Nurse Corps at Deshown Army Hospital in Butler PA. At that time I was a pilot in the Eighth Airforce in the UK. We later married.

Portrait of Janet Sylvia Kenahan-Hanrahan Janet Sylvia Kenahan-Hanrahan
Rhode Island Hospital School of Nursing, Providence, Rhode Island

January 10, 1927 -  April 8, 2015

Janet Elizabeth Sylvia Kenahan-Hanrahan, 88, passed away in peace and comfort at her home surrounded by her family. She remained true to her plan of not going gently into that good night over the course of her private but courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. Born in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, she relocated to Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and graduated from William E. Tolman Senior High School in 1944. She then joined the United States Cadet Nurse Corps andreceived her nursing diploma from the Rhote Island Hospital School of Nursing in July 1947. Her career as a Registered Nurse spanned five decades of loyal service and compassionate care at Rhode Island Hospital, The Providence Lying-In Hospital; and Woman & Infants Hospital. Forged by the Great Depression and a proud member of the nation's Greatest Generation, she loved her God, her country, and her family.

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Photo of Portteus Stephens Corporon Hughes Portteus Stephens Corporon Hughes
Mount Carmel Hospital, Pittsburg, Kansas

June 13, 1925 - January 18, 2014

Portteus Stephens Corporon Hughes (Port, Portie) attended and graduated from Arcadia High School in 1943 and joined the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps. She then became a nursing student at Mount Carmel Hospital in Pittsburg, Kansas. After graduation she became a Registered Nurse in October of 1946. Part of her training was completed at the City Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. She worked at Mount Carmel Hospital for two years. Portie’s infectious smile, positive outlook on life, playfulness, welcoming hospitality, and her toe socks will be missed by her family, church and community.

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Lois Ruth Steinhour Rice
Mercy Hospital, Hamilton, Ohio

February 23, 1924 - February 13, 2012

Christy Rice Barker writes: 

Lois Ruth Steinhour was a Cadet 1943-44 I believe. She was in Frankfort, Kentucky, and originated out of Hamilton, Ohio. Ruth took her nurses RN training at Mercy Hospital in Hamilton, Ohio.  We have a few pictures and paperwork from then. In Frankfort she met our father, Charles Rice, who was a medic in Army but for health reasons left the service. I would like to exchange other information from the group that you may have related to this time period or any other information I may provide to you.  Please send e mail.

Portrait of Mary Lucich Mary Albina “Bee” Stefani Lucich
Mercy School of Nursing, Sacramento, California

July 17, 1916 – May 19, 2015

Mary Lucich, a life-long resident of Merced, was born July 17, 1916, in Merced, California, to Carlo and Annunziata (Garfagnoli) Stefani, and passed away peacefully at 98 years old on May 19, 2015, with her loving family by her side. The daughter of Italian immigrants from Marlia, Lucca, (Tuscany region), Mary realized the American Dream. Growing up on 20 acres in the Franklin district, where her father farmed tomatoes and sweet potatoes, Mary attended Franklin Grammar School, and Merced High School, graduating in 1934. After working at various jobs in Merced, including the cannery and Hartman’s Department Store, Mary pursued her dream of becoming a registered nurse. She received her R.N. degree in 1947 from Mercy School of Nursing in Sacramento, CA, as a member of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps.

Married on April 11, 1948, to John Anthony Lucich, a local businessman originally from Sacramento, proudly they raised their four children together. Once her children all reached school age, Mary returned to nursing as a very dedicated and passionate home health care nurse with the Merced County Public Health Department, always giving her full attention to caring for her patients. She retired in 1981.

A life-long participant of community involvement, after retirement Mary continued as a volunteer nurse. In 1936 she became a member of the Italian Catholic Federation; a charter member in 1959 of the Community Concert Series (Merced Symphony Association) and a board member for many years; and a member of and docent for the Merced County Historical Society, receiving their Letus Wallace Award. As a faithful member of the Our Lady of Merced/St. Patrick’s Parish, for years she taught catechism classes. Recognized by the Merced County Old-Timers Association, additionally, she was a member of: American Legion Ladies Auxiliary, Native Daughters of the Golden West, the Druids, OLM Mother’s Club, and was instrumental in organizing several Franklin School Reunions.

For all her accomplishments, however, Mary placed the highest importance in her time spent with family, including her "chosen children" as she referred to them, and European relatives. Her family defined her and she extended her welcoming, warm heart, selflessness, unconditional acceptance, and love to all while igniting her love of travel and sense of adventure in us.

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Portrait of Elizabeta Stacishin Queiroz Elizabeta Stacishin Queiroz
Boston City Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts

Passed away in 1967.

Elizabeta's son, Felipe, writes:

I am the youngest son of Elizabeta Stacishin. Elizabeta was a nurse cadet and trained, I believe, in Boston City Hospital. Elizabeta moved to Brasil with the love of her life, my father, an MIT student, and enlisted with the US Army. The war ended before they had to go to the front. Elizabeta passed away after a long battle with cancer.

Portrait of Rita Soller Swinghamer Rita Soller Swinghamer
St. Francis School of Nursing, La Crosse, Wisconsin

July 5, 1925 - October 1, 2013.

Rita wrote:

On August 16, 1943, I entered the St. Francis School of Nursing in La Crosse, WI. At the time it was depression years. My parents were struggling financially but willing to find some way to pay. Can you imagine how $300 for 3 years was a financial burden? I wanted to be a nurse since I was a little girl. A few days after admission, we were called into assembly and told that the school had been accepted by the United States Cadet Nurse Corps. It was an answer to our prayers, and I was also able to serve my country in the time of WWII.

For the next 30 months, I went to classes, did floor duty on the general units and specialized departments. We worked all three shifts including split shifts. I was in the Communicable Disease Department during the polio season. We had six patients in the iron lung of which one survived. During our last six months, I worked on several different units, including OB. In OB it was nine months after the war was over and we had babies, babies, etc. OB was my favorite department. We also studied for State Boards and I am happy to say I passed on my first attempt.

For the next 34 years I worked in many areas including Medical, Surgical, Orthopedics, OB, and Office Nursing. After graduation I worked one year in Highland Park, Michigan, in OB, and in 1955-1956 I worked weekend float Nurse in Denver General in Colorado.

In 1950 I married Walter Swinghamer. He served in the Aleutians WWII -- Staff Sargeant in the U.S. Air Force. He worked for Whitaker General Medical until retirement. Our daughter, Sandy, was born in 1954, our son Jim was born in 1956. Our daughter has worked as a CCU Nurse and is now a Telephone Nurse Advisor. Our son is a Nuclear Medicine Technologist in a VA hospital. His wif is the District Manager for Cardinal Health Nuclear Pharmacy Services. They have two daughters. Erin will start as a fourth year Pharmacy Student at Drake University. Kelly will be a first year Psychology student at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. She is interested in occupational therapy. Our son-in-law owned Fanning Electric and is retired.

In 1957, I went to work in OB-Labor and Delivery and in 1967 I was appointed Head Nurse. In 1980 I retired from St. Francis Medical Center on disability with MS.

Rita Swinghamer 1943-2013A collage of Rita Swinghamer as Nurse (left), Cadet Nurse in uniform (center and top right), and now.

 

Eunice E. Smolak
Grand Forks Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing, Grand Forks, North Da

Robert Rither writes:

My aunt Eunice E. Smolak was a member of the USCNC.  She graduated from Lancaster MN High School in 1941.  Following graduation, she entered nurses training at the Grand Forks Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing, in Grand Forks, North Dakota.  At commencement exercises held on February 23, 1945, she received her coveted nursing pin and certification as a Registered Nurse.

Ms Smolak enlisted in the U. S. Cadet Nurse Corps and was assigned to the Bushnell General Hospital (also known as the Army and Navy Masonic Service Center), a 1,500-bed military hospital on a 235-acre site a mile and a half south of Brigham City, Utah.  Most of the patients treated at the hospital were American servicemen wounded in battles in the Pacific theater of operations.  A section of the hospital grounds also housed German and Italian prisoners of war.

After serving in Utah, she was assigned to the nursing staff at a hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii, (I do not recall the name of that hospital) where she remained until the discontinuance of the Cadet Nurse Corps in 1948.  She then began her nursing career with the U. S. Veterans Administration with assignments in Washington, D. C., Shreveport, Louisiana and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

I have some of the items she saved from her career as a Cadet.

Ruth An Slivka
Mercy School of Nursing, Chicago, IL

1926 - 2009

Serial Number 137338

Admitted June 17, 1945

Graduated July 28, 1948

Portrait of Claire Sirois Smart Claire Sirois Smart
otre Dame de Lourdes Hospital School of Nursing, Manchester, New Hampshire

December 19, 1923 - January 19, 1991

Claire's family reports

Mom was admitted to the Cadet Nurse Corps July 1, 1943, and attended nursing school at Notre Dame de Lourdes Hospital School of Nursing in Manchester, New Hampshire, graduating in February of 1945. She was unable to attend her class graduation in September of the same year as she had joined the Army at Fort Devins in July and by September was serving at Camp Edwards, Massachusetts. She served as General Duty Nurse in U.S. for about 1 1/2 years in Massachusetts as well as Oliver General Hospital in Augusta, Georgia. December 1946 found her in Caserta, Italy. She worked at the 61st Station Hospital as well as the 317th Station Hospital, serving in Europe for approximately 1 1/2 years. Her last assignment was accompanying U.S. dependents, many of whom were pregnant, by ship back to the U.S. Her military service ended in May 1948 at Kilmer, New Jersey. She was awarded the American Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, and the Meritorious Unit Plaque.

She went on to marry, raise four children, then went back to nursing at the Sepulveda V.A. Hospital in California. Sadly, we lost her to Leukemia in January 1991.

 

Mary Louise Schrade Boucher
Grant Hospital, Chicago, Illinois

Passed away March 1, 2014.

Mary Louise Schrade (Boucher) graduated from the U S Cadet Nurse Corps 9/14/1948

Portrait of Mary Theresa Schoemer Gauvin Mary Theresa Schoemer Gauvin
St. Mary’s Hospital Nursing School, Detroit, Michigan

March 10, 1926 - April 9, 2010

David Gauvin writes: 

A recent photo of Mary Theresa Schoemer GauvinMary Theresa (Schoemer) Gauvin graduated from St. Mary’s Hospital Nursing School in 1947, located downtown Detroit,  Michigan.  The Sisters of Charity, the religious order of nuns who ran the nursing school, would not allow married nursing students so she became engaged to her life-long partner the week of her graduation from the program.  She worked as the midnight charge nurse at Wyandotte General  Hospital (Wyandotte, MI) and Riverside Osteopathic Hospital (Trenton, MI) until her 6th child was born in 1958.  She took 16 year hiatus from hospital nursing to raise her children.  However, during this time she “specialed” for many family and friends through their journey to the next life.  Following the death of her husband in 1975, Mary returned to fulltime nursing in industrial medicine at Chrysler Trenton Engine Plant (Trenton, MI), the Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant (Woodhaven, MI) and Ford Motor Main, Foundry (Dearborn, MI), as well as ExCello Incorporated (Detroit, MI).  She moved from Industry to exclusive private practice nursing for Dr. John C. Dickson for the last two decades of her life.  She retired from nursing at 75 years young – a profession she was proud to practice.  Mary Gauvin, R.N., died April 9, 2010.

Carmen Frances Salazar
Los Angeles County General Hospital School of Nursing, California

Carmen Frances Salazar, R.N., was in the Cadet Nurse Corps in World War II. She graduated from the Los Angeles County General Hospital School of Nursing in 1944 and passed away in May 2007.

Gertrude Rourke Gannon
St. Catherine's Hospital School of Nursing, Brooklyn, NY

August 10, 1925 - July 23, 2010

Gertrude's son writes:

My mother, Gertrude Rourke Gannon, spoke of her time in the Cadet Nurse Corps as one of the happiest periods of her life. Towards the end of her life, as her memory was fading, her face would always light up, her brain would awaken, and you would swear you were talking to the young 19 year cadet who was taking care of our wounded heroes at Rhodes Army Hospital in New York. It was there that she met my father, her patient. Although the cadets were not suppose to fraternize with the enlisted men they found a way to get to know each other and eventually marry. She lived a long, happy, productive life and worked as a nurse until her retirement. I respected my mother, not just as a parent, but as a woman who overcame many obstacles in her life. Although she came from a traditional Irish Catholic family, she taught me acceptance of others and open mindedness.

In tribute to my father, I joined the US Army as a medic in 1972. In tribute to my mother, I graduated with my BS in Nursing and was given my commission in 1982. I finished my career after retiring from the Army Nurse Corps as Head Nurse of psychiatry at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC.

When she died 4 years ago, she was buried next to my father in a Veterans Cemetery on Long Island, NY. Her memorial simply says:

Gertrude Rourke Gannon
1925-2010
Cadet Nurse Corps

Thanks, Mom!

Katherine Jane Rickes Orr
Vassar Brother's Hospital School of Nursing, Poughkeepsie, New York

Charlene Orr writes: 

My mother, Katherine Jane Rickes Orr enlisted 1944, graduating from Vassar Brother's Hospital School of Nursing in 1947. Poughkeepsie, NY. Of the 33 classmates, I believe only 8 are left. My mother passed away, January 2009. I have a good friend, Thelma Robinson who lives in Boulder, and the author of wonderful books about the Cadet Nurse Corps. Another is Marjorie Patak, of Woodridge NJ. I keep in touch with both. Am so glad to see a FB page of the CNC!

Portrait of Mary E. Prendergast McNamara Mary E. Prendergast McNamara
St. Margaret’s Hospital School of Nursing, Boston MA

1924 - 2004

Mary E. Prendergast was a 1945 graduate of St. Margaret’s Hospital School of Nursing in Boston MA. After graduation she and 16 of her classmates entered the Cadet Nursing Corps to help meet the Army's and Navy's nursing needs. Mary went on to serve at Lovell General Hospital at Ft. Devens Massachusetts until the end of the war. Following WWII, she married Army SSGT Jim McNamara and raised 11 children in Quincy Massachusetts where among other jobs, she was the neighborhood nurse for tens of kids in the area.

Portrait of Helen Poh Engel Helen Poh Engel
Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

March 18, 1925 - December 24, 2004

Helen's son writes: 

Helen Poh's USCNC Membership CardMy mom, Helen (Poh) Engel, grew up in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. When she was in high school in the 1940s she decided she wanted a career. The main choices she saw available to her were to be a secretary, teacher, or nurse. When she was a junior in high school she decided to become a nurse. She speculated in later years that her choice have been influenced by her seamstress mother, who had spoken of having wanted that career herself.

Mom was seventeen when she graduated from high school and knew that if she only took a three year program she would still have to wait a year to turn 21 to be able to be licensed. So she enrolled in the School of Nursing at Marquette University to earn her B.S. and become an R.N.

Helen lived with Mick and Marion Wedewart, her aunt and uncle, in West Allis. Helen worked in the restaurant Mick and Marion operated on 84th & Beecher - LaPlante's Lunch - to pay for her tuition. It was here that she met her future husband, Russ Engel, who lived around the block.

Helen and Russ started dating around 1943 but he enlisted in the US Marine Corps. He started basic training in October and then shipped out to the Pacific.

In 1944 Helen enrolled in the U.S. Public Health Service's Cadet Nurse Program. The USPHS paid Helen's tuition ($110 per semester) and a stipend ($15 per month) in exchange for the obligation to serve for the duration of World War II. In Helen's case, her service was as a 2nd lieutenant nurse in the Army. Helen graduated from Marquette with her Bachelor of Science degree in 1946, the year after the war ended, and was licensed as a Registered Nurse.

Helen worked for a year at Door County Memorial Hospital in Sturgeon Bay, and then married Russ in 1947. She moved to Milwaukee and took a job at St. Joseph's Hospital in Milwaukee. She immediately got pregnant. When her condition began to show the hospital gave her two choices - quit or work in the nursery. Helen stayed a while but then left three months before the birth
to the first child. But that did not keep her out of the workforce. After the first child was born Helen resumed her career as an R.N., this time at St. Michael's Hospital in Milwaukee.

Helen went on to have a total of 13 children, while juggling her career.

It was especially tough being a working mom in those years. Some expressed their disapproval of the young mother returning to the workforce. And there were no maternity benefits. Helen recalled in 1981, "When I first started working I had to quit working each time I got pregnant." She would then have to fill out an application to come back after the birth. "Things changed a
little by the time I had my last two. But I still had to work right up to the end if I wanted to keep my benefits."

Helen worked at St. Michael's for over 35 years. For a good portion of that she was a head nurse. In 1981 she looked back at the changes she had seen. "We were practicing team nursing when I first came here. But since I worked on 3-West, which was all private rooms, it was kind of like primary nursing all along to me."

"We had an R.N., an L.P.N. and three nursing assistants on PM's on 3-Main then. Now I work with four other R.N.'s and two Nursing Assistants. That gives me time to teach patients. We couldn't do that before; we were too busy doing other things."

"The whole nature of nursing has changed since I began working. Now we have in-service classes to teach us about new equipment and new techniques. We have floor meetings and support groups. And the whole nursing process is better. Nurses have more responsibility today than they ever did, and that's a big step ahead."

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Photo of Loreen Phillips Overstreet Loreen Phillips Overstreet
Georgia Baptist Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia

December 25, 1925 - January 26, 2008

Dr. Loreen ‘Phyl’ Overstreet, 82, formerly of Fayetteville, died Jan. 26, 2008. She was preceded in death by her husband, the Rev. Dan Overstreet, and son, Marcus Overstreet. She was a professor emeritus with the University System of Georgia. She attended Ouachita College in Arkansas, the University of Georgia, Southwestern Theological Seminary in Texas, and Emory University where she received her master's degree. At the University of South Carolina she received her doctorate of education degree. She also received her nursing degree from the Georgia Baptist Hospital School of Nursing. She began her career as a registered nurse as a World War II Army Cadet. She taught in several colleges and schools of nursing. She was honored with medals and awards for her work including the Individual Service Award by the Georgia Rural Health Association in 1988.

Photo of Helen Perkins Lucenay Helen Perkins Lucenay
Providence Hospital, Waco, Texas

March 10, 1927 - July 27, 2014

Helen Perkins Lucenay was a Cadet Nurse Corps graduate from Providence Hospital, Waco, Texas.  Mrs. Lucenay earned an Associate Degree in Nursing in 1947. She shared her love for people, medical knowledge and compassionate touch with many patients. Those settings included: James Connally Air Force Base, private duty, labor and delivery-Hillcrest Hospital, and the Veterans Administration Hospital Psychiatric Unit for many years. In 1978, Mrs. Lucenay furthered her education, earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing. She was soon named the Infection Control Nurse for the Veterans Administration Hospital until her retirement, February 14, 1996.

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Portrait of Emilia Ontko Sabo Emilia Ontko Sabo
Paterson General Hospital, Paterson, New Jersey

Passed away on July 30, 2013.

Dorothy Flar writes: 

Emilia "Millie" Ontko Sabo attended Paterson General Hospital in Paterson, NJ, graduating in 1947. She was a member of the US Cadet Nurse Corps (1944-1947), serving at the US Merchant Marine Hospital in Staten Island. She was employed as a RN at Hasbrouck Heights Hospital 1947-1952. After taking time off to raise her family, she returned to work at Beth Israel Hospital in Passaic, NJ, for 15 years before retiring in 1984. The rest of her life was spent in the Palm Bay/Melbourne, Florida, area, where she passed away at the age of 86.

Portrait of Clara Rebecca Nourse Sumpter Clara Rebecca Nourse Sumpter
Santa Monica's Hospital School of Nursing, Phoenix, Arizona

January 17, 1927 - November 25, 2011

Becky Sumpter, 84, passed away Nov. 25, 2011, in her home at Bonita Creek, Arizona. She was born Jan. 17, 1927 to William Kenneth Compton Nourse and Emily Maud Nourse in Tucson, Ariz. As a young girl, Becky spent much of her time outside enjoying the variety of birds and animals and the diverse plant life the Sonoran desert had to offer. Being home-schooled, she had many hours each day to wander the land in the shadows of the Catalina Mountains.

Mrs. Sumpter attended the University of Arizona where she studied library science. During her early years of study she decided to take a nursing class and discovered her passion — taking care of people. World War II was raging and she joined the Cadet Nurse Corps program and became a registered nurse. Becky trained at St. Monica’s Hospital in Phoenix and, over the years, shared many amazing stories of “nursing in the old days.”

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Photo of Phyllis Noerager Stern Phyllis Noerager Stern
Mount Zion Hospital, San Carlos, California

September 02, 1925 - May 04, 2014

After high school Phyllis Nerager earned her nursing diploma from Mount Zion Hospital as part of the federally funded Cadet Nurse Corps which helped alleviate the severe shortage of nurses after WWII. Upon graduation she worked in several health facilities in California and Arizona. She continued her education earning her AA nursing degree from the College of San Mateo, a BS in Nursing from San Francisco State University, a Masters in Nursing from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and a Doctorate in Nursing Science, also from UCSF.

Dr. Stern held faculty positions at California State University at Hayward, UCSF; Northwestern State University at Shreveport, LA; and was Professor and Director of Dalhousie University School of Nursing in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She joined the faculty of the Indiana University School of Nursing as Professor and Department Chair of Family Health Nursing and was named a Professor Emerita upon her retirement from IU.

Phyllis is best known for her research and campaigning on behalf of women’s health internationally. With colleagues in Canada, in 1984 she founded the International Council on Women’s Health Issues (ICOWHI) and served as Council General until 2002. She served as editor-in-chief of the refereed journal Health Care for Women International from 1983 to 2001 and as such was able to help launch the publishing careers of several first time authors. Dr. Stern is considered an expert in classical (Glaserian) grounded theory method of research and has generated several mid-range theories on family crisis situations and the impact of culture on health and care. She was a member of the AAN Expert Panel on cultural competence, served on the editorial boards of Qualitative Health Research and Issues in Mental Health, and was a reviewer for a number of nursing journals. She continued to mentor a number of international students who chose to use grounded theory in their doctoral dissertations.

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Photo of Neola Louise (Noell) Younker Neola Louise Noell Younker
Bishop Johnson College of Nursing, Los Angeles, California

September 7, 1924 - July 7, 2001

Donna Naumoff Huttner
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Died on January 4, 2014

Susanne Huttner reports: 

My mother, Donna (Naumoff) Huttner, was a Cadet Nurse. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with a nursing degree and trained at Woods, Wisconsin, along with several friends from Minnesota.

Photo of Cecilia Marie Muschi Dawydiak Cecilia Marie Muschi Dawydiak
St. Joseph's College of Nursing, San Francisco, California

October 3, 1926 - June 15, 2008

Cecilia ("Sis") Marie Muschi Dawydiak attended St. Joseph's College of Nursing under the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps during WWII, and was proud of her Cadet uniform, her St. Joseph's nurse cape and pin. She fell in love with "Gene," a sailor she met at the USO Club in 1945 and they married in 1951. Sis then attended the University of San Francisco, and became one of 14 pioneering women, all registered nurses, to graduate in 1950; the first class of women. She worked at Maimonides Hospital and in the '50s became a pediatrics instructor at Mt. Zion's School of Nursing under Chair, Ganelle Griffin. When the school closed, Sis, the late Norma Muthe and Marion McDermott, were tapped by Ganelle to start CCSF's School of Nursing in the '60s. In the '70s she received a masters degree from San Francisco State University.

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Portrait of Catherine Murphy Catherine Murphy
The Cambridge City Hospital School of Nursing, Cambridge, Massachusetts

November 25, 1927 - April 3, 1984

Portrait of Sara Ann Morazzini Richards Sara Ann Morazzini Richards
Leominster Hospital School of Nursing, Leominster, Massachusetts

August 4, 1925 - February 20, 2010

Recent photo of Sarah RichardsSarah graduated from high school in 1944, and was accepted into the Registered Nursing program of the Cadet Corps, graduating in 1947. Upon graduation from nursing school, Sarah's nursing career was centered in public hospitals. According to her daughter, Nancy Richards-Stower, the cadet program was her mom's way to her nursing career.

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Portrait of Pearl Melnick Pearl Melnick Zeltzer
Grace Hospital School of Nursing, Detroit, Michigan

Family members include: Beloved Wife of George "Mike" Zeltzer; Dear Mother of David (Rita Addison) Zeltzer, Gary (Janice) Zeltzer, Elliot (Dr. Susan) Zeltzer and Jeremy (Kevin Dennis) Zeltzer; Loving Grandmother of Marc (Miha) Zeltzer, Joe Zeltzer, Ari Sachter Zeltzer, Ruth Zeltzer, Stuart Zeltzer, Paul Zeltzer and Barry Zeltzer; Sister of Lillian Horn.

Pearl was a Registered Nurse and was part of the Nurse Cadet Corps in World War II. A Trustee of the Michigan Opera Theatre,  Pearl played a pivotal role in establishing their dance program. A Patron of the Arts, she was an active member of the National Foundation for Jewish Culture. A Fellow at Brandeis University, she was a key player in the Center for Judaic Technology at Brandeis. Along with her husband, George "Mike" Zeltzer, they established an annual lecture for the Cohn Haddow Center for Judaic Studies at Wayne State University which placing its focus  on Women in Judaism. Pearl was an Associate Member of the Detroit Institute of Arts, and a major supporter of the Stratford Festival as well as the Shaw Festival.

Portrait of Doris Meharry Doris Meharry
Traverse City State Hospital School of Nursing, Michigan

Died January 13, 2012 at the age of 89.

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Constance Abbey Steed
Los Angeles County General Hospital School of Nursing, California

Diana Medal writes: 

I am proud to post my mother's story on this page with so many other esteemed nursing professionals. My mother, Constance Abbey Steed, R.N., was a U.S. Cadet Nurse and a graduate of the Los Angeles County General Hospital School of Nursing in 1945. I remember her stories about training, including the stress of 4 years of nursing college collapsed into 3 years for the war effort, to emergency cases at downtown Los Angeles. She hung hospital blackout curtains at night so that lights could not be seen by the enemy from the Pacific. She described passing California state boards, a 3 day process, in 1945. My mother died in 2004, but I was able to tell her while she was alive that legislative efforts had started to try to obtain veteran's status for the Cadet Nurse Corps. This would be highly deserved.

How would U.S. hospitals at home have coped during WWII without the Cadet Nurses?

Portrait of Marian Marcella McRaith Tope Marian Marcella McRaith Tope
St. Catherine's College - St. Joseph's School of Nursing

January 16, 1924 - February 17, 2013

Always the adventurer, Marian joined the Cadet Nurse Corps at 17. She trained at St. Catherine's College - St. Joseph's school of nursing, and, upon graduation, was stationed with many of her fellow graduates at Fort Whipple in Prescott. At Whipple, Marian made many lifelong friends whom she treasured to her dying day. Along with friends, Marian met and married a recovering Navy man, Allen Tope, with whom she had four children.

Nursing for Marian was not just a career; it was a way of life. Along with nurturing her family, she cared for Phoenix patients in ICU and Orthopedics; eventually retiring from active nursing in 1987 as head nurse of oncology at St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona.

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Anne Mandzak Kakos
Robert Packer Hospital School of Nursing, Sayre, Pennsylvania

Always interested in Nursing (on the prevention of illness and injuries area). After completion of Cadet Nurse training (1943-1946), I was engaged in Public Health and as a School Nurse-Teacher. When I enlisted in the Cadet Nurse Corps, I believed it was the MIlitary Service since I pledged to serve to the end of WW II hostilities . I am on a mission to see that our U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps members (180,000 enlisted) will be remembered as serving our Nation during that "infamous time."  Many of my young fellow classmates left high school to serve this great Nation, and after graduation, I enlisted to be "one of them".

Anne Kakos received a Special Recognition Award to honor her service as a member of the World War II U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps and her efforts to preserve the history of the Cadet Nurses. Since 2000, Kakos has been actively involved in the movement to have the members of the Cadet Nurse Corps officially recognized as veterans for their service during World War II. She has had numerous articles published in local papers and has been interviewed by several magazines. Representing members of the WWII Nurse Corps, Kakos testified at the 2009 House of Representatives Veterans Affairs Subcommittee hearings for the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corp Equity Act. The Yonkers City Council, the State Senate, the State Assembly, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Crestwood Historical Society have recognized her efforts. She completed her own three-year nursing course at Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, Pa., as a U.S. Cadet Nurse in 1946.

See Congressman Eliot Engel's report on the November 3, 2013, event at which Anne Kakos was honored.

See this article in the NYSUT News.

Dorothy Backman Hampton
Samuel Merritt Hospital School of Nursing, San Francisco, California

Donna Maloney writes: 

My mother, Dorothy Backman Hampton, was a graduate of Samuel Merritt Hospital School of Nursing and a member of the Cadet Nurse Corps. She passed away in 2009. She was apparently used as a model for articles about San Francisco/ Oakland area hospitals.

I recently met with some people at Samuel Merritt University, and they are in the process of putting together something about the Corps as a number of their graduates were members.

I have already written to my Senator with little luck.

If there is anything I can do, please let me know.

donnam16551@aol.com

Jeanne Anne Maderia Howard

December 24, 1924 - February 2, 2013

A family member writes: My Mom, Jeanne Anne Maderia Howard, was in the Cadet Corps and graduated from Nursing School in August 1946.

Photo of Rose Arabelle Logue Carter Rose Arabelle Logue Carter
St Michael’s Hospital School of Nursing, Newark, New Jersey

Died March 19, 2011 at the age of 87.

Rose Arabelle (nee Logue) Carter, was a graduate of the USCNC, serving in the burn ward at NTS Sampson (Hospital), Sampson NY, from April to October 1945.

Rose was a student & (Nov ’45) graduate of St Michael’s Hospital School of Nursing, Newark NJ. She served as a visiting public health nurse in the Monmouth County Organization for Social Services (MCOSS) in New Jersey until 1967, when she moved to Florida. She served as a geriatric charge nurse in various hospitals and nursing homes in the Clearwater FL, area until she retired and moved to New Smyrna Beach FL in 1986 to be close to my younger sister and her new family.

Photo of Mildred Ethel Laird Mildred Ethel Laird
Touro Infirmatory, New Orleans, LA

Passed away peacefully on September 3, 2012, at age 85.

Mildred Ethel Laird lived a wonderful and honorable life. We are very proud of the part of her history and lifelong career that came from the U.S. Cadet Nursing Corp. Thank you for your service and for the blessing that the Corps gave her, my family and all of the people she helped over her 51 years of service. 

from Russell Riall, Mildred's son
 

Elsie Jean Kostelny Mauratt
Lutheran Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing, Chicago, Illinois

Carol Beeman writes: 

My mother, Elsie Jean Kostelny Mauratt, was a World War II Cadet Nurse.  She was admitted to the corps on September 22, 1943, and issued her card on March 1, 1944.   She worked at Lutheran Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing in Chicago Illinois.   Throughout her life she valued her early nursing experiences.  She died in Portland, Oregon, on March 11, 1996, after lovingly devoting her life to her husband and 2 daughters.   Our dad (age 88) still resides in Portland and is a proud WWII Navy veteran.  He would be especially pleased if mom's war effort was also officially and publicly recognized by the government.

Photo of Jane Knox Carson Jane Knox Carson
Keuka College School of Nursing, Penn Yan, New York

Died January 20, 2014

Had a long and varied career in nursing

Portrait of Helen Kleinschmidt Olson Helen Kleinschmidt Olson
Indianapolis City Hospital, Indiana

September 26, 1922 - February 25, 2013

Helen Kleinschmidt Olson was a member of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps during World War II. She entered in 1943 at the Indianapolis City Hospital and graduated in 1946. She served in the tuberculosis ward at the hospital after the war.

Unfortunately, Helen was diagnosed with Alzheimer's ten years ago and hasn't been able to communicate for years. Her daughter, Lisa, is doing all she can as a child of a Cadet Nurse to get the recognition they deserve and is very proud of her mom, what she had to go through and her service to our great country. Lisa hopes that these great women are recognized before all of them are gone. .

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Portrait of Mable Evelyn (Lynn) Kitsmiller Hubert Mable Evelyn (Lynn) Kitsmiller Hubert
St. Luke's Hospital School of Nursing, Denver, Colorado

September 7, 1926 - October 30, 2010

Mable Evelyn (Lynn) Kitsmiller received her Nursing Certificate from St. Luke's Hospital in Denver, Colorado.  She became a member of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps in 1944, and served in a Veteran's Hospital in San Francisco, California.  In 1950 she married U.S. Navy Captain William Hubert, and together they raised five children as they followed his postings all over the world.  When they retired to Colorado in 1972, Lynn volunteered as a pre-op nurse in the local hospital; she remained a hospital volunteer until her death.

Mary Gloria Kelleher
Mount Auburn School of Nursing, Cambridge, Massachusetts

December 18, 1927 - December 8, 2011

Portrait of Mae F. Keefer Mae F. Keefer
Williamsport Hospital School of Nursing, Williamsport, Pennsylvania

Died August 31, 2012.

August 31, 2012.
August 31, 2012.
August 31, 2012.

Mae F. Keefer, RN retired in 1988 after a 40-year career in nursing – more than 37 of those years at Evangelical Community Hospital. A graduate of Milton High School and the Williamsport Hospital School of Nursing, she completed her clinical training in the World War II Cadet Nurse Corps at Mount Alto Veterans Hospital in Washington, D.C. Following initial service as a general duty nurse in Williamsport, Mrs. Keefer began general duty nursing at Evangelical's original hospital at the Lewisburg United Methodist Homes. She was promoted to a 3-to-11 supervisor just two weeks after the opening of the new hospital in 1953. In 1970 she was named Director of Nursing.

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Charlotte Katona
Evangelical Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

March 1, 1924 - February 13, 2010

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Nightingale tribute

Portrait of Nancy R. Kasfeldt Blasco Nancy R. Kasfeldt Blasco
The Danbury Hospital School of Nursing, Danbury, CT

April 7, 1924 - June 2, 2011

Florence Hilda Johnson Gutek
Salem Training School for Nurses, Salem, Massachusetts

May 18, 1926 - January 18, 1977

Her married name was F. Hilda Gutek. 

Portrait of Silvia Jimenez Almeyda Sylvia Jimenez Almeyda
St. Mary's Hospital School of Nursing, Tucson, Arizona

More recent photo of Sylvia Jimenez AlmeydaNovember 3, 1917 - December 15, 2011

Sylvia Jimenez Almeyda was born on November 3, 1917 in Clifton, Arizona, a copper mining camp in Greenlee County. Shortly thereafter, Sylvia and her parents, Antonio and Josefa Gonzales Jimenez, moved to Miami, Arizona, where her father found laborer’s work at the Miami Copper Company. After graduation in 1935 from Miami High School, Sylvia worked as a nurses’ aide at the Miami Inspiration Hospital. In 1943, she became a member of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corp. Within this program, Sylvia enrolled in St. Mary’s School of Nursing & began taking nurses’ training in Tucson, and graduated from St. Mary’s in 1945. By then, her soldier-husband-to-be, Alfred Almeyda, returned from his military service overseas, and returned to his home in Miami. He and Sylvia soon married & began their own lives in California, where they lived until 1986. As a registered nurse, Sylvia established an exemplary record of service in major hospitals in California, and over a period of 40 years, with a speciality in maternity and infant care.  Sylvia and Alfred Almeyda returned to Miami, Arizona in 1986 to enjoy a new life in retirement. The couple became active in community service work for the Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, the Miami Senior Center, and for the Bullion Plaza Cultural Center and Museum. Alfred Almeyda passed away in 1995. Sylvia Almeyda passed away on December 15, 2011, at the age of 93.

Portrait of Theo E. Jesperson Theo E. Jesperson
LA County - USC Med. Center, California

April 7, 1926 - November 3, 2012

My mother, Theo E. Jespersen (at the time) completed the Cadet Corp nurses training program at LA County - USC Med. Center during WW2.  I don't know the exact years.  She passed away on Nov. 3, 2012.  She was always very proud of her service in the Cadet Nurse Corps.  She became an RN and worked in Santa Maria, CA, at Sister's Hospital, Marian Hospital, and later became a School Nurse at the local high schools.  She married and had 2 sons (last name Openshaw). 

Neal Openshaw

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Photo of Barbara Louise Hofstra Barbara Louise Hofstra Almy
Massachusetts General Hospital School of Nursing, Boston, Massachusetts

February 22, 1925 - June 12, 2012

Barbara Louise Hofstra Almy graduated from Nursing School in 1947 and continued in nursing until she retired from South Shore Hospital Nursing Administration in 1987.

She often spoke of her service as a cadet nurse. Barbara would always joke about how she met her husband under a bed at the MGH.The truth is after the war her husband to be was a volunteer orderly at the hospital. He heard the sound of breaking glass coming from a patient's room and went in to investigate.The patient dropped a glass urinal on the floor so he knelt down next to the bed to clean up the glass not realizing Barbara was knelt down on the other side picking up pieces of glass. She said their eyes met and it was love at first sight.They married August 28,1948. As a prank they would tell people their oldest daughter was born August 21st to see how people would react. Shortly later the would tell the truth; their daughter was born August 21st 1949. Two more daughters and a son came later.Barbara retired as the Quality Care Director at South Shore Hospital in So.Weymouth, about 15 miles south of Boston. They bought their first home in Halifax, MA, near Plymouth in 1965.

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Rose Ellen Hession Hurrie
St. Vincent Nursing School

August 4, 1924 - February 5, 2011

Rose graduated as a registered nurse from St. Vincent Nursing School and served in the Cadet Nurse Corps at the Great Lakes Hospital Naval Hospital in Chicago during World War II. Rose married the late William P. Hurrle in 1947. Bill and Rose moved to Tucson, AZ in 1979 where their youngest son, Francis Xavier (deceased), attend the University of Arizona. They returned to Indianapolis in 2001.

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Photo of Barbara Hershberger Corl Barbara Herschberger Corl
Butterworth Hospital, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Newspaper Clipping about Barbara CorlNovember 18, 1926 - February 18, 2015

Peggy Corl writes: 

My mother's name was Barbara Hershberger at the time she was in the Corps, in the last class of 1948. Her married name is Corl. My mother just passed away yesterday, February 18 at the age of 88 from Alzheimer's. In 1949, she traveled to Puerto Rico to volunteer as a nurse in the tiny mountain village of Castaner for two years, where she met my father, who was also a volunteer there. After their marriage, she worked for over 30 years as RN in Bremen Community Hospital in Bremen, Indiana. She took early retirement several years ago, but remained active at our local blood center and in our county Right-to-Life association.

I only learned of her enrollment in the Corps yesterday when I saw a newspaper clipping. I would like to hear from anyone who knew her.

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Portrait of Mary Callahan Mary E. Gillespie Callahan
Chelsea Memorial Hospital, Massachusetts

Died February 5, 2010, at age 82.

The shortage of nurses was so great, recalls Mary Callahan of her training days at Chelsea Memorial Hospital, "that the students were running the hospitals. The only Registered Nurses on the floor were supervisors. Everyone else was a student and we had 120 beds." 

The routine of classes and duty in the hospital was demanding, but she acknowledges she may never have been able to pursue a career in nursing without the incentives offered by the government.

Following graduation she worked at the Contagious Disease Hospital in Brighton dealing with patients with polio, cholera and yellow fever "and we had one whole unit full of iron lungs" at the height of the polio crisis.

Married in 1949, she and her husband Paul moved to Baltimore where she worked at the Sinai Hospital for three years before returning to Foxboro where they would raise their five children.

Mary left nursing in 1969 to devote her full attention to caring for Paul, who passed away in 1973. She then went back into the work force full time as nurse manager when the Foxboro Area Health Center opened on Mechanic Street, working there until 1989.

She looks back on a rewarding career and a fulfilled life, grateful for the program that helped make it possible and her opportunity to step forward when her nation called.

-adapted from The Foxboro Reporter, Thursday, November 12, 2009, p. 3 & 5

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Kathryn Jean Gibb
Barre City Hospital, Barre, Vermont

Amanda Denton writes:

My grandmother, Kathryn Jean Gibb, trained as a nurse at Barre City Hospital in Barre, VT. As a a Cadet Nurse, she was assigned to care for former internees at Santo Tomas, Manila. She was haunted by what was inflicted on these people and spoke very little about her experiences. Some years ago, a memorial wall went up at our local high school with the names of all the graduates who served. I was surprised that she wasn't included. I contacted the sponsors, they did some digging and her name was added. I was stunned to realize that she wasn't considered a veteran! She went oversees as a bright-eyed girl of 20 and came home a sadder, wiser woman. Enlisting in the Cadet Nursing Corp allowed her not only to serve her country, but to flee small town life and step into who she would become, an independent career woman. Such gifts come at a great cost, though, and I feel that she left parts of herself in Santo Tomas-- mainly her optimism, her faith in the goodness of people, her unmitigated joy of life. Afterward, she kept her war experiences tucked in close, like a wounded wing. We didn't press and she didn't disclose.

My Grandma Kay passed away January 7, 1995, a veteran of war and of her country's lack of recognition.

Betty Gerl
St. Joseph's School of Nursing, Joliet, Illinois

October 4, 1926 - November 8, 2010

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Portrait of Ruth Gerber Andrews Chambliss Ruth Gerber Andrews Chanbliss
Hackensack Hospital School of Nursing, Hackensack, New Jersey
Chambliss, Ruth H. Andrews, R.N., went to be with the Lord on Monday morning, August 12, 2013 at the tender age of 86.

Affectionately called "Ms. Ruth" her lifelong passion for Nursing began in 1945 as a member of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corp in WWII, holding the title of Corporal, U.S. Army. She was a graduate of Hackensack School of Nursing, Hackensack, NJ, did post-grad work at Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C. and earned her B.S. Degree in Nursing from the College of St. Frances, Joliet, IL. Her Montgomery work resume consisted of Baptist Medical Center 1967 -1976, Alabama Medicaid Associate Director Hospital Program 1976-1986 and Wiregrass Hospice 2000-2005. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/montgomeryadvertiser/obituary.aspx?page...

Chambliss, Ruth H. Andrews, R.N., went to be with the Lord on Monday morning, August 12, 2013 at the tender age of 86.

Affectionately called "Ms. Ruth" her lifelong passion for Nursing began in 1945 as a member of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corp in WWII, holding the title of Corporal, U.S. Army. She was a graduate of Hackensack School of Nursing, Hackensack, NJ, did post-grad work at Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C. and earned her B.S. Degree in Nursing from the College of St. Frances, Joliet, IL. Her Montgomery work resume consisted of Baptist Medical Center 1967 -1976, Alabama Medicaid Associate Director Hospital Program 1976-1986 and Wiregrass Hospice 2000-2005. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/montgomeryadvertiser/obituary.aspx?page...

Chambliss, Ruth H. Andrews, R.N., went to be with the Lord on Monday morning, August 12, 2013 at the tender age of 86.

Affectionately called "Ms. Ruth" her lifelong passion for Nursing began in 1945 as a member of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corp in WWII, holding the title of Corporal, U.S. Army. She was a graduate of Hackensack School of Nursing, Hackensack, NJ, did post-grad work at Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C. and earned her B.S. Degree in Nursing from the College of St. Frances, Joliet, IL. Her Montgomery work resume consisted of Baptist Medical Center 1967 -1976, Alabama Medicaid Associate Director Hospital Program 1976-1986 and Wiregrass Hospice 2000-2005. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/montgomeryadvertiser/obituary.aspx?page...

Chambliss, Ruth H. Andrews, R.N., went to be with the Lord on Monday morning, August 12, 2013 at the tender age of 86. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/montgomeryadvertiser/obituary.aspx?page...

November 23, 1926 - August 12, 2013

Portrait of Ruth H Andrews ChamblissRuth H. Andrews Chambliss, R.N., went to be with the Lord on Monday morning, August 12, 2013, at the tender age of 86. Affectionately called "Ms. Ruth," her lifelong passon for Nursing  began in 1945 as  a member of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps in World War II, holding the title of Corporal, U.S. Army. She was a graduate of Hackensack School of Nursing, Hackensack, New Jersey, did post-grad work at Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C., and earned her B.S. degree in Nursing from the College of St. Frances, Joliet, Illinois. Her Montgomery work resume consisted of Baptist Medical Center 1967-1976, Alabama Medicaid Associate Director Hospital Program 1976-1986, and Wiregrass Hospice 2000-2005.

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Nancy Fitzgerald
Memorial Hospital, Charlotte, North Carolina

January 9, 1918 - November 16, 2012

Nancy Smith Phibbs was born on January 9, 1918, in Linwood, North Carolina. She was the youngest of three children and grew up in High Point, North Carolina. After she graduated from high school she held various jobs and in 1941 she entered a Seminary in Nyack, New York. A year later she began Cadet Nurse training at Memorial Hospital, Charlotte, North Carolina from 1942-1946. Upon graduation she was given the choice of the Army, Navy, or Indian Service. She chose Indian Service as a nurse and worked at both Fort Defiance and Tuba City, Arizona. Nancy considered her work on the reservation the highlight of her nursing career. In Tuba City, Arizona, she met and married George A. Sakiestewa in 1947. In 1948 her only child Ramona Sakiestewa was born. Nancy continued her nursing career in Albuquerque working at the Indian Sanitarium, St. Joseph's Hospital, Presbyterian Hospital, the Veteran's Administration Hospital, and the Kirtland Dispensary.

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Portrait of Ruth Virginia Finke Spoon Ruth Virginia Finke Spoon
Grace Hospital School of Nursing, Detroit, Michigan

Passed away in 1990.

Kathleen Spoon writes:

Ruth's USCNC membership cardMy mother, Ruth Virginia Finke Spoon, entered the Cadet Nurses Corps in 1944 and graduated in 1947. She was from Dayton, Ohio, but did her Cadet Nurse training at Grace Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. She worked as a nurse until she was married in 1951. Being a nurse made her a really good mom--I always felt very well taken care of if I was sick. She took a refresher course and went back into nursing in 1969. She passed away in 1990. I'm very proud that she served our country as part of the U.S. Cadet Nurses Corps.

Portrait of Photo of Mrs. Genevieve F. Mooers Genevieve Farrah Moers

January 17, 1922 - September 24, 2014

Genevieve Farrah Moers was a proud member of U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps.

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Portrait of Elainne Etter Emerson Elainne Etter Emerson
Alexandria, Virginia, Hospital School of Nursing

October 1926 - June 2010

Elainne took training at the Alexandria Hospital School of Nursing in Alexandria, Virginia.  She traveled from her hometown of Waynesboro, Pa. in 1944 and graduated in 1946.  She stayed in Alexandria where she worked in the hospital ER and married, of all people, a fireman.  She started a family of 3 in 1949 and remained in nursing for 35 years.  Elaine also volunteered in the Alexandria Fire Dept. Ladies Auxiliary which was made up of many different talents.  The nurses' focus at that time was to provide emergency care "on scene", triage, support for hospital staff called to the incident and rehab for the firemen.  They provided training to the firefighters at a time when basic first aid was the only thing available.  Many of the ladies who graduated after the war, weren't afforded the opportunity to serve in forward theaters,  continued with a purpose, their chosen vocation.   

Portrait of Frieda Emmons Frieda Emmons
Catholic University of America Extension, Kalamazoo, Michigan

August 20, 1911 - May 14, 1969

Frieda Emmons was a Cadet Nurse who worked as a nurse up until the time of her death in 1969.

Portrait of Jean Margaret Ellis Smith Jean Margaret Ellis Smith
Monmouth College, Long Branch, New Jersey

Rebecca Smith Griffin writes:

My Mother, Jean Margaret Ellis Smith was a U.S. Cadet Nurse during World War II. She received her training at Monmouth College in Long Branch, NJ. She lived from June 19, 1925 to Aug. 12, 2012. She was married for 65 years to my Dad, Willis C. Smith, Jr. They met at a dance at the college (USO related) during her training as a cadet nurse and his assignment as a U.S. marine in 1946. They married in February of 1947.

Portrait of Antonia Dzwonczyk Karkut Antonia Dzwonczyk Karkut
Grace-New Haven Training School for Nurses, New Haven, Connecticut
 
October 3, 1924 – March 11, 2002
  
 
Antonia Dzwonczyk after graduating from Shelton High School in 1942, worked one year in the defense industry inspecting aircraft instrument pivots. Later, she worked as an airplane mechanic fitting and putting wings on a US Navy fighter plane the Corsair F4U. In 1944, she entered the Grace-New Haven Training School for Nurses and then joined the US Nurse Cadet Corps during World War II during the polio epidemic. Her three-year nursing course was rigorous with little free time. Because the war ended, she was not required to go into the service even though she was still interested in joining the Army. A dear friend whom she was planning to enter the service with changed her mind, so she too changed her plans. Antonia loved the military connection and the idea of a “good education for life” that the Cadet Nurse Corps represented. Their dreams of becoming something became reality and provided unprecedented opportunities for women entering the workforce. For the first time we received training, textbooks, and smart looking uniforms. In 1947, Antonia graduated from nursing school in New Haven, CT. Antonia worked at Yale-New Haven Hospital, Peter Bent Brigham and New England Deaconess Hospital in Boston, and the US Public Health Service Hospital in Staten Island, NY. Also, she worked as a volunteer school nurse at the Subic Bay, PI-Naval Base, a volunteer nurse at Redwood Jr. High School, Napa, CA; a Psychiatric Nurse at Napa State Hospital, CA, and ending in 1979, with a nurse’s registry for convalescent hospitals taking care of the elderly.
 
Our mother’s most influential moments were working with Florence Blake, author of Essentials of Pediatrics, which led her to specialize in pediatric nursing for the last six months of her nursing education. Another gratifying moment was becoming a surgical nurse under the supervision of Lillian Sholtis, one of the authors of the Manual for Surgical Nursing.
 

 

Portrait of Joan Douglas Joan Douglas
Stanford University School of Nursing, Palo Alto, California

March 23, 1923 - April 12, 2011

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Portrait of Patsy Dean Trainor Patsy Dean Trainor
Santa Monica's Hospital School of Nursing, Phoenix, Arizona

October 30, 1927 - March 20,1972

Patsy Dean Trainor moved to Farmington, New Mexico, in the 50's and was a nurse for a local doctor. Later when she and her husband Earl were sent to the Reservation in Arizona for work in oilfield, she served as the Camp Nurse.

Portrait of Emily G. Crowther Saleeba Emily G. Crowther Saleeba
Rhode Island Hospital School of Nursing, Providence, Rhode Island

November 2, 1924 - May 25, 2014

One of five children, Emily was born in Lincoln, RI on 1924, to Emily (Carter) and Samuel Crowther, both of Lancashire, England. As a youth, she had a passion for nursing. After graduating from Cumberland High School, she followed her dream by attending and graduating from the Rhode Island Hospital School of Nursing. During World War II, the United States federal Government established the Hospital Cadet Nurse Corps. That's when she became a member of the Rhode Island Hospital Cadet Nurse Corps, serving in the armed forces, government and civilian hospitals, health agencies and war related industries. Following the war, Emily worked the next 40 years as a registered nurse.

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LaVondah Helen Crouch
Kokomo, Indiana and Springfield, Illinois

August 1, 1927  - July 30, 2005 

Edith Cox Piskor
Laconia Hospital School of Nursing, Laconia, New Hampshire

August 21, 1925 - April 7, 2010

Patricia A. Rockwood, Edith's niece, writes: 

Edith Cox Piskor was my maternal aunt and in 1944 was enrolled in the Cadet Nursing program and had an assignment in Kentucky after graduation. (We have letters from my uncle to her during her training in Laconia). She later became an RN. Her last residence was in Dundalk, Maryland.

 

Portrait of Avril Joyce Cook Wadsworth and Norman Milton Wadsworth Avril Joyce Cook Wadsworth
Baptist Medical Center, Memphis, Tennessee

1924-2011

Avril Joyce Cook Wadsworth's daugher writes: 

My mother, Avril Joyce Cook Wadsworth, began her nurses training at Baptist Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee. She then accepted the assignment as a Cadet nurse at Kennedy General in the same city. She had thought about going farther...wanted to serve in the Army overseas. However, the war was over by the time she had her R.N. degree, and she married a handsome soldier, Norman Milton Wadsworth. She was employed at Baptist Medical Center, supporting Norman (my dad) while he pursued his studies in optometry. The picture I am sharing was their engagement picture. She was very proud to serve as a Cadet!

Bernice Therese Collins
Hotel Dieu School of Nursing, New Orleans, Louisiana

Margaret Collins writes: 

My mother, Bernice Therese Collins, was in the United States Nurse Corps. She studied at Hotel Dieu in New Orleans, Louisiana and became a Registered Nurse. Unfortunately, Mama passed last Wednesday night 5/14/14 here in Baton Rouge, LA.

Portrait of Jean Butler Booher Jean Butler Booher
Clarkson School of Nursing, Omaha, Nebraska

March 24, 1927 - April 14, 2011

Portrait of Dorothy J Braun Turner Dorothy J. Braun Turner
Henry Ford Hospital School of Nursing and Hygiene, Detroit, Michigan

Passed away on March 1, 2014.

Steven R Turner writes:

Dorothy J. Braun (Turner) was the first cadet nurse trainee from Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan, to be accepted by the Navy into US Naval Hospital, Seattle, Washington.  She was 21  and finished her last 6 months of training in Seattle.  While there, she met and subsequently married Richard E. Turner, a Pharmacist Mate FC, who was heading off to finish medical school in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  They married in October of 1945.  My parents settled in Eugene, Oregon, after his graduation from University of Michigan and residency in pediatrics.  Dorothy maintained her nursing license and continued to work in the field until her retirement in 1989 from the University of Oregon's Student Health Center.

Portrait of Ellamae Branstetter Ellamae Branstetter
Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri

Passed away on April 29, 2013, at age 90.

Ellamae Branstetter was the 8th & youngest child of Murray & Ellen (Purcell) Branstetter. Her early years and schooling were in Miami, Oklahoma. She was a Cadet Nurse and received her nursing diploma from Jewish Hospital, St Louis in 1944. She received her BS from St Louis University in 1954 and her M.P.H. degree in public & mental health nursing from the University of Minnesota in 1957. She earned her Ph.D in Human Development from the University of Chicago in 1969. In 1958 she was recruited from the Visiting Nurse Service in Phoenix to help inaugurate the Arizona State University College of Nursing, where she was among the first three faculty members. She left ASU in 1964 to pursue her research and returned in 1967 to develop the initial graduate program in nursing.

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ASU Retirees Association Video History Project interview with Ellamae Branstetter, taken in 2007, about her work at Arizona State University and the development of the field of Nurse Practitioner:

Portrait of Wanda Bradshaw Risdon Wanda Bradshaw Risdon
St. Johns School of Nursing, Tulsa, Oklahoma

July 14, 1926 - July 8, 2014

Wanda joined the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps in WWII and attended St. Johns School of Nursing in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Wanda's first job was at the VA Hospital in Pass Christian, Mississippi. In 1949 Wanda moved to Denver, Colorado, and later met James Bradshaw at Denver University while attending a nurses meeting. They married in 1951.

Wanda and Jim had two children: Clarissa and Doyle; Wanda skillfully balanced being a wife, a loving mother, and a registered-nurse in Colorado, New Zealand, Idaho, Arkansas and California. James Bradshaw preceded her in death December 1980.

Wanda remarried an old family friend, Keith Risdon, in 1984. They lived in Palm Desert, and Wanda continued to work as a nurse, eventually retiring from Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California. Wanda and Keith Risdon moved to Cottonwood, Arizona, in 1991 they were both active in the community.

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Portrait of Jeanie Good Eugenia "Jeanie" Blakesley Good
Montana State College, Bozeman, Montana

December 12, 1926 - July 6, 2012

Jeanie Blakesley Good began her nurse's training in 1945, right out of high school. She started at Montana College in Bozeman and continued her studies at Deaconess Hospital in Billings, which was followed by affiliations with various hospitals in Montana and Wyoming, where she learned different nursing skills.

Cadet Nurse training meant 3 years' round-the-clock training, day and night, including summers.

Jeanie knew that after training was over, she faced two years of service in the Army. "That was my commitment," she said. "If I finished training, then I would have to. And I would have done so gladly.

Read more about Jeanie's life in this book by her granddaughter, Heather Evagelatos Robertson.

Portrait of Constance Besch Constance Besch
St. Vincent Charity School of Nursing, Cleveland, Ohio

February 7, 1925 - March 5, 2010

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Portrait of June Lois Bergstrom June Lois Bergstrom
Englewood Hospital, Chicago, Illinois

John Martin Harper reported that his mother, June Lois Bergstrom, passed away in 1992 in San Francisco, CA. 

Ana Marie Baez Bruenger
Sage Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, Ganado, Arizona

June 20, 1923 - March 28, 2011

Ana Marie Baez Bruenger died Monday, March 28, 2011 at Mendocino Coast District Hospital in Fort Bragg. She was born on June 20, 1923 in Mexico City. She was the second daughter of The Rev. Alfonso and Teresa Camargo Baez. Ana Marie came to the United States with her family while she was a child. She attended schools throughout the Southwest and graduated from Menaul School in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She was one of the first Hispanic graduates of the Native American Navajo Nation's nursing program at the Sage Memorial Hospital under Presbyterian auspices in Ganado, Ariz. She worked as a nurse for 66 years.

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Portrait of Dorothy Backman Hampton Dorothy Backman Hampton
Samuel Merritt Hospital School of Nursing, Oakland, California

Passed away in 2009.

Portrait of Rena Arsenault McDonald Rena Arsenault McDonald
New England Hospital for Women and Children, Roxbury, Massachusetts

March 8, 1925 - February 4, 2014

Rena wrote: 

I graduated in 1946 from the New England Hospital for Women and Children in Roxbury, Massachusetts. This hospital has the history of graduating America's First Trained Nurse. Her name is Linda Richards.My dream in high school was to be a nurse. I therefore worked at this same hospital on weekends, holidays and summer vacation. The dietary department was my favorite place.I am one of eight children, and the Cadet Nurse Corps program was a blessing to me.My class had a yearbook that I treasure. It includes pictures and fond memories including cartoons.Our class during training had a dance for service men stationed in Boston. We were closely supervised. The dance was a great success as I met my husband there. He was a sailor from New Jersey stationed in Boston. We raised six children.I'll be 88 in March 2013.

Virginia G. Adrig
Michael Reese Hospital School of Nursing

January 25, 1924 - June 4, 1963

Virginia was a U.S. Cadet Nurse and took her training through the Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, probably in 1943/1944. She graduated from high school in 1942. She never married and had no children.

If anyone has more information on Virginia, please contact Cindy Graff at greenfrogs79@yahoo.com.  Thank you.

Constance Abbey Steed
Los Angeles County General Hospital School of Nursing, California

Passed away in 2004.

Diana Medal, Connie's daughter, writes: 

My mother, Constance Abbey Steed, R.N., was a U.S. Cadet Nurse and a graduate of the Los Angeles County General Hospital School of Nursing. I remember her stories about training, including the stress of 4 years of nursing college collapsed into 3 years for the war effort, to emergency cases at downtown Los Angeles. She hung hospital blackout curtains at night so that lights could not be seen by the enemy from the Pacific. She described passing California state boards, a 3 day process, in 1945.

How would U.S. hospitals at home have coped during WWII without the Cadet Nurses?