Rosedith (Van Hoorebeck) Hawkins was born March 11, 1919, to Richard J. and Christina Van Hoorebeck. She attended St. Joseph’s Parochial High School in Rock Island, Illinois, where she played piano and participated in theater. She then attended Mercy Hospital School of Nursing in Davenport, Iowa, receiving her first-year cap in 1938. She graduated in 1940 and worked on the staff of St. Joseph’s Hospital before enlisting in the Army in January 1942.
Van Hooreback served as a nurse in New Guinea and the Philippine Islands from 1944-1946. In 1945, there were more than 57,000 Army nurses deployed in various theaters of war, the largest number of nurses on active duty in history. They were assigned to hospital ships, trains, flying ambulances, and field, evacuation, station and general hospitals.
In the Army, she married Corporal Clifford A. Hawkins on October 4, 1943, while stationed at LaGarde General Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Hawkins retired as a registered nurse after 20 years at St. Luke’s Hospital in Davenport, Iowa, eventually taking up residence in Eddyville, Kentucky. She died on April 28, 2011, at the age of 92, in Kentucky, and is interred in Section Z, Site 13 at Rock National Cemetery. Honor her service at her virtual Veterans Legacy Memorial page.
This #VeteranOfTheDay is from the Veterans Legacy Program. To learn more about the VLP, our partnerships and how we share the stories of Veterans in our national cemeteries, please visit the VLP webpage.
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