Mick Welding submitted this article.
On Saturday, November 9, 2019, the Morrison Community Hospital Foundation will host their 11th Annual Gala, at the Vista Grande in Clinton, IA, beginning at 5:00 p.m. We will offer a buffet dinner plus musical entertainment by the Josh Duffee Orchestra from Davenport, IA. Tickets can be purchased online at www.mchf.cbo.io. You will also be able to view and bid on Silent Auction items on the website after Friday, October 25.
The Josh Duffee Orchestra will play a musical tribute to veterans, to highlight a night where we will recognize those who served our Country. This month we will feature a gal from Morrison, IL, who served in the Navy.
I am proud to introduce Navy Cadet Nurse Evelyn Raney. She is a native of Ft. Wayne, IN, where she attended grade school and graduated from Ft. Wayne High School in 1943. Evelyn dreamed of being a nurse, but her parents just did not have enough money to send her to nursing school. So, in 1945 she joined the Navy to enter into their nurses training program.
Evelyn was first sent to boot camp in The Bronx, NY. She noted there were not many females at boot camp in 1945. After completing boot camp she was sent to Fordham University in The Bronx to complete her nurses training. After completing her degree she was sent to Parris Island, SC, to nurse at a Marine training base. She spent two years at Parris Island and then returned to Ft. Wayne.
She went to work at one of the three General Electric plants. While working there she met a good-looking guy named Sid Raney. They fell in love and were married in 1951. The Raneys were soon blessed with a girl and a son.
Right after their son was born, Sid came home and told her he was being transferred to Morrison, IL, to work as the Director of Finance at the GE plant. Evelyn’s response was, “What is a Morrison, and where is it?”
They moved to Morrison with their two young children and lived for three months on the 2nd floor of a hotel. She said it was rough washing diapers in the bathtub at 4:00 a.m., so as to not disturb her hubby or her children. However, she did enjoy milkshakes from the ice cream place down the road. Evelyn and Sid had three more children in Morrison.
One of the biggest highlights from Evelyn’s military career was meeting Admiral Chester Nimitz. She was fortunate to have her picture taken with him. It was featured on the front page of the New York newspapers. He was back in the States for a parade down 5th Avenue.
Evelyn said, “He was so nice and down to earth.”
Thank you for your service, Evelyn!
