Gertrude E. Noone

NOONE Gertrude E. Noone, age 110, Milford, passed away peacefully on September 10, 2009, at her home in Carriage Green, Milford. She was the World's oldest living veteran, having served in the Women's Army Corp during World War II. Upon discharge as Tech Sergeant her commanding officer wrote, "Her great dependability, willingness to work and other forms of loyalty and devotion to duty, will always be remembered by us." In March 2009 Secretary of the Army Pete Geren paid a visit to Miss Noone at Carriage Green in Milford where she has resided for the past eight years. Secretary Geren celebrated Miss Noone's service on three significant levels: 2009 is the year of the Non-Commissioned Soldier, March was Woman's History Month, and at that time Miss Noone was the oldest veteran in the United States. He quoted Oveta Culp Hobby, the first director of the WAC, saying that by enlisting during wartime they had accepted "a debt to democracy, [and] a date with destiny." Miss Noone was born in Ansonia, on December 30, 1898, the daughter of the late Bridget (Duffy) Noone and James Noone. Noone enlisted in the Women's Army Corps (WAC) in 1943 at age 44, leaving a 17-year career with Travelers Insurance to serve the nation in a time of war. She rose to the rank of Tech Sergeant before leaving the service in 1949. Her final post was Fort Myer, Va., as chief clerk of the Army's largest dispensary, where she met Gen. Omar Bradley, Gen. George Patton, and First Lady Bess Truman. After leaving the Army Miss Noone worked at Stamford Hall, a private psychiatric hospital in Stamford. She retired in 1962. She was predeceased by her brothers Peter, John, James and Thomas and her sisters Catherine Hampton, Mary Tobin, Helen Andrews, Winifred Noone and her dear sister Esther Balogh who she lived with for many years in Orange, and her nieces Helen McLeese, Mildred Saville, Hazel Valentine and Edith Heery. She is survived by her grandnieces, Deborah Woods of Milford, Sharon M. Lieber of Southbury, Elizabeth Romagna of Oxford, Joan MacLeese of Cundy's Harbor, Maine and Alan MacLeese of Hallowell, Maine and several nieces and nephews in Florida and Georgia. She will be dearly missed by all her family and her loving caregiver of eight years, Mary Delimini. She was greatly loved by all her friends at Carriage Green. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday, September 12, 2009 at 11 a.m. in Holy Infant Church, 450 Race Brook Road, Orange, followed by an Interment with full Military Honors in Mt. St. Peter Cemetery, Derby. Family and friends may call Friday (TODAY) from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Cody-White Funeral Home, 107 Broad Street on the Green, Milford. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Agency on Aging of South Central CT Client Fund, One Long Wharf Drive, New Haven, CT 06511. www.codywhitefuneralservice.com