Mary Louise (Hawkins) Lambert, 86, of Waynesboro, died Monday, July 9, 2007, at Augusta Nursing and Rehabilitation Center of Fishersville.
Ms. Lambert was born May 24, 1921, at Fitzsimons Army Hospital in Denver, Colorado. She was the youngest of three daughters of the late Thomas Martin and Mary Frances (Reynolds) Hawkins.
She was preceded in death by her sisters, Frances Orin Rusk and Katherine Lucille Johnson.
Surviving are her husband, William Michael of Waynesboro; daughter, Mary Michelle Lambert Bispeck and her husband, Michael, of Austin, Texas. She was a beloved aunt to 17 nieces and nephews, as well as a number of great-nieces and nephews.
A world traveler from an early age, she was three years old when she and her family returned from the Philippines. She graduated from Highland School of Nursing of California in 1942. Serving as an Air Evacuation Flight Nurse in the Army Air Forces, 1st Lieutenant Hawkins spent 13 months flying wounded out of the Pacific theater during World War II. Her endeavors saved lives and shortened suffering for countless wounded while earning her the Air Medal. Her most memorable experience occurred in September of 1944 while evacuating 24 wounded patients from fighting on Palau to Guadalcanal. The C-47 she was aboard was forced to crash-land on Bellona Island, which had not yet been cleared of enemy forces. During the landing, a young Marine patient's windpipe was severed by a piece of the plane's wreckage. Improvising with the limited medical supplies on hand, 1st Lieutenant Hawkins kept the Marine alive for 24 hours until a Navy destroyer arrived and rescued the party. For her efforts, she was one of only a handful of women awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross during World War II.
After World War II, she returned to California, where she received her Masters Degree from The University of California, Berkeley, in 1953.
While nursing in Saudi Arabia in 1959, she met her husband, Bill, and they married in Zurich, Switzerland in 1960. Returning briefly to the United States, they lived in New York and Texas, where she was on the faculty of Texas Women's University, before leaving for Africa in 1966. The family lived in various parts of South Africa and the Middle East before returning to the United States in 1976, where she resumed her nursing career. The family moved to Central Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley in 1988, where she and her husband have remained.
In lieu of flowers, the family request contributions be made to the Women's Memorial Foundation, Department 560, Washington, D.C. 20042-0560, in memory of Mary Louise Hawkins Lambert, referencing registration #228075 Published in The News Virginian on July 13, 2007
Ms. Lambert was born May 24, 1921, at Fitzsimons Army Hospital in Denver, Colorado. She was the youngest of three daughters of the late Thomas Martin and Mary Frances (Reynolds) Hawkins.
She was preceded in death by her sisters, Frances Orin Rusk and Katherine Lucille Johnson.
Surviving are her husband, William Michael of Waynesboro; daughter, Mary Michelle Lambert Bispeck and her husband, Michael, of Austin, Texas. She was a beloved aunt to 17 nieces and nephews, as well as a number of great-nieces and nephews.
A world traveler from an early age, she was three years old when she and her family returned from the Philippines. She graduated from Highland School of Nursing of California in 1942. Serving as an Air Evacuation Flight Nurse in the Army Air Forces, 1st Lieutenant Hawkins spent 13 months flying wounded out of the Pacific theater during World War II. Her endeavors saved lives and shortened suffering for countless wounded while earning her the Air Medal. Her most memorable experience occurred in September of 1944 while evacuating 24 wounded patients from fighting on Palau to Guadalcanal. The C-47 she was aboard was forced to crash-land on Bellona Island, which had not yet been cleared of enemy forces. During the landing, a young Marine patient's windpipe was severed by a piece of the plane's wreckage. Improvising with the limited medical supplies on hand, 1st Lieutenant Hawkins kept the Marine alive for 24 hours until a Navy destroyer arrived and rescued the party. For her efforts, she was one of only a handful of women awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross during World War II.
After World War II, she returned to California, where she received her Masters Degree from The University of California, Berkeley, in 1953.
While nursing in Saudi Arabia in 1959, she met her husband, Bill, and they married in Zurich, Switzerland in 1960. Returning briefly to the United States, they lived in New York and Texas, where she was on the faculty of Texas Women's University, before leaving for Africa in 1966. The family lived in various parts of South Africa and the Middle East before returning to the United States in 1976, where she resumed her nursing career. The family moved to Central Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley in 1988, where she and her husband have remained.
In lieu of flowers, the family request contributions be made to the Women's Memorial Foundation, Department 560, Washington, D.C. 20042-0560, in memory of Mary Louise Hawkins Lambert, referencing registration #228075 Published in The News Virginian on July 13, 2007
Mary Louise (Hawkins) Lambert, 86, of Waynesboro, died Monday, July 9, 2007, at Augusta Nursing and Rehabilitation Center of Fishersville.
Ms. Lambert was born May 24, 1921, at Fitzsimons Army Hospital in Denver, Colorado. She was the youngest of three daughters of the late Thomas Martin and Mary Frances (Reynolds) Hawkins.
She was preceded in death by her sisters, Frances Orin Rusk and Katherine Lucille Johnson.
Surviving are her husband, William Michael of Waynesboro; daughter, Mary Michelle Lambert Bispeck and her husband, Michael, of Austin, Texas. She was a beloved aunt to 17 nieces and nephews, as well as a number of great-nieces and nephews.
A world traveler from an early age, she was three years old when she and her family returned from the Philippines. She graduated from Highland School of Nursing of California in 1942. Serving as an Air Evacuation Flight Nurse in the Army Air Forces, 1st Lieutenant Hawkins spent 13 months flying wounded out of the Pacific theater during World War II. Her endeavors saved lives and shortened suffering for countless wounded while earning her the Air Medal. Her most memorable experience occurred in September of 1944 while evacuating 24 wounded patients from fighting on Palau to Guadalcanal. The C-47 she was aboard was forced to crash-land on Bellona Island, which had not yet been cleared of enemy forces. During the landing, a young Marine patient's windpipe was severed by a piece of the plane's wreckage. Improvising with the limited medical supplies on hand, 1st Lieutenant Hawkins kept the Marine alive for 24 hours until a Navy destroyer arrived and rescued the party. For her efforts, she was one of only a handful of women awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross during World War II.
After World War II, she returned to California, where she received her Masters Degree from The University of California, Berkeley, in 1953.
While nursing in Saudi Arabia in 1959, she met her husband, Bill, and they married in Zurich, Switzerland in 1960. Returning briefly to the United States, they lived in New York and Texas, where she was on the faculty of Texas Women's University, before leaving for Africa in 1966. The family lived in various parts of South Africa and the Middle East before returning to the United States in 1976, where she resumed her nursing career. The family moved to Central Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley in 1988, where she and her husband have remained.
In lieu of flowers, the family request contributions be made to the Women's Memorial Foundation, Department 560, Washington, D.C. 20042-0560, in memory of Mary Louise Hawkins Lambert, referencing registration #228075 Published in The News Virginian on July 13, 2007
Ms. Lambert was born May 24, 1921, at Fitzsimons Army Hospital in Denver, Colorado. She was the youngest of three daughters of the late Thomas Martin and Mary Frances (Reynolds) Hawkins.
She was preceded in death by her sisters, Frances Orin Rusk and Katherine Lucille Johnson.
Surviving are her husband, William Michael of Waynesboro; daughter, Mary Michelle Lambert Bispeck and her husband, Michael, of Austin, Texas. She was a beloved aunt to 17 nieces and nephews, as well as a number of great-nieces and nephews.
A world traveler from an early age, she was three years old when she and her family returned from the Philippines. She graduated from Highland School of Nursing of California in 1942. Serving as an Air Evacuation Flight Nurse in the Army Air Forces, 1st Lieutenant Hawkins spent 13 months flying wounded out of the Pacific theater during World War II. Her endeavors saved lives and shortened suffering for countless wounded while earning her the Air Medal. Her most memorable experience occurred in September of 1944 while evacuating 24 wounded patients from fighting on Palau to Guadalcanal. The C-47 she was aboard was forced to crash-land on Bellona Island, which had not yet been cleared of enemy forces. During the landing, a young Marine patient's windpipe was severed by a piece of the plane's wreckage. Improvising with the limited medical supplies on hand, 1st Lieutenant Hawkins kept the Marine alive for 24 hours until a Navy destroyer arrived and rescued the party. For her efforts, she was one of only a handful of women awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross during World War II.
After World War II, she returned to California, where she received her Masters Degree from The University of California, Berkeley, in 1953.
While nursing in Saudi Arabia in 1959, she met her husband, Bill, and they married in Zurich, Switzerland in 1960. Returning briefly to the United States, they lived in New York and Texas, where she was on the faculty of Texas Women's University, before leaving for Africa in 1966. The family lived in various parts of South Africa and the Middle East before returning to the United States in 1976, where she resumed her nursing career. The family moved to Central Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley in 1988, where she and her husband have remained.
In lieu of flowers, the family request contributions be made to the Women's Memorial Foundation, Department 560, Washington, D.C. 20042-0560, in memory of Mary Louise Hawkins Lambert, referencing registration #228075 Published in The News Virginian on July 13, 2007
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