Mary Grace Schaffer

Mary Grace "Sammy" Schaffer, one of the last surviving WWII Nurses, died August 30, 2005 in the Pikes Peak Hospice Center. She was 87 years old. She was a woman of great heart, great mind and great humor. Sammy was born to Julia Elia Gowan and Samuel E. Lowrance in Chester, SC, on May 25, 1918. She boarded at Pfeiffer High School in Misenheisner, NC. graduating Valedictorian in 1936. After completing Cambden Hospital School of Nursing in 1939, she worked in hospitals and privately, then studied more at Charity Hospital in New Orleans. In 1942, she joined the United States Army as a 2nd Lieutenant at Ft. Jackson, SC, and was deployed overseas a year later. Sammy's convoy was bombed as it entered the Mediterranean Sea headed toward Tunisia. All nurses were ordered below, but Sammy stayed on deck all night to watch and then help survivors from a sister troop ship that had sunk. During her war years, Sammy worked in a MASH unit that followed right behind the front lines. Once, in Northern Italy, her unit got caught between the Allies and the Axis forces which fired over and through their hospital tents. She rode camels to the pyramids in Egypt, flew into Beirut, walked in Jerusalem and saw the ancient wonders in small open-cockpit planes. She also nursed wounded and dying soldiers, saw her friends killed and survived all the wonders and horrors of war throughout northern Africa and Italy. In 1946, Sammy returned to the States and married Edward Joseph Schaffer, an Air Force Officer, on September 12, 1946. Soon Julie Ann (1948), Richard Gowan (1951) and Eileen Joyce (1952) were born as they moved from Guam to California, to Turkey, and then to Ent Air Force Base in 1952. The Springs became their home base in between postings to Biloxi, Omaha, Newfoundland, and New York. Sammy loved a rousing political debate and never shied away from speaking her mind. She worked for the Democratic Party as both volunteer and delegate edited their newsletter, and supported their candidates. In 1974, she graduated in English with honors from the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs, further honored by inclusion in Who's Who in American Universities. She then worked for 4 years as a listener and trainer for the Alexandria suicide hot line in Virginia. Sammy was a fabulous mother to her three children. She taught them to make a gracious home, plant a fruitful garden and make hearty casseroles. She rarely missed a birthday or holiday for children, friends, grandchildren or great-grandchildren, overcoming the limitations imposed by her six-year battle with breast cancer. She is survived by her husband, Lt. Col. Edward Schaffer; children: Julie Wind of Maui, HI; Richard Schaffer of Tucson, AZ; and Eileen Schaffer of Colorado Springs; grandchildren: Paul Blessing of Colorado Springs, Matt Schaffer of Portland, OR; Thad Wind of Eugene, OR; Sierra Jansen of Maui, HI; great-grandchildren: Jenasea Jewell Blessing of San Diego, CA; Porter and Eli Wind of Eugene, OR, and Kiya Lily Arnold of Tucson; nephew, Edgar Lowrance of Pagosa Springs; and niece, Mary Lou Greenwood of Chesterfield, VA; and bestest buddy, Lie Williams of Colorado Springs. The Memorial Service will be held at Antlers Park Pavilion across from the old train depot on West Pikes Peak, Sunday, September 4 at 3:00 p.m. Food will be served in lieu of flowers. Donations can be made to the El Paso Democratic Party and the Charity Hospital in New Orleans.