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Geraldine Doyle Obituary

Geraldine Doyle

aided war effort

LANSING, Mich.  When a photographer snapped Geraldine Hoff Doyle's picture in an Ann Arbor factory during World War II, the 17-year-old had no idea she would inspire others to contribute to the country's war effort.

Ms. Doyle said it took more than 40 years for her to learn that her image from that photo was placed on the illustrated "We Can Do It!" poster urging women to take on jobs traditionally held by the men fighting battles in Europe and the Pacific.

Ms. Doyle died Sunday in Lansing at age 86. A memorial service is set for Jan. 8.

"She was definitely one of the Rosies," said Sandy Soifer, executive director of the Michigan Women's Historical Center and Hall of Fame, in referring to the fictional "Rosie the Riveter." That was the name given to women working in plants during WWII.

The image of the headscarf-wearing woman with the flexed bicep beneath a rolled-up shirt sleeve helped prompt scores of daughters, sisters and mothers to trade in the tools of housework for those of manufacturing and take jobs in plants across Michigan and the country.

"It's our belief that she is the model for the drawing that is most commonly used in the posters and on the products," added Soifer.

Ms. Doyle told the Lansing State Journal in 2002 that she didn't realize the illustrated face on the poster commissioned by the U.S. War Production Coordinating Committee was her own until 1984, when she saw a reproduction of it in a magazine.

The forgotten photo was taken in 1942 at a metal pressing plant about 33 miles southwest of Detroit.

"There were other Rosies. She said she was the model for that poster," said Gladys Beckwith, former director of the Michigan Women's Historical Center and Hall of Fame.

The poster was "symbolic of an active woman who was taking an active part in the war effort, and it was empowering for a woman to see that," Beckwith said.

"Rosie the Riveter" was the title of a popular 1940s song. Like the woman in the "We Can Do It!" poster, a woman holding a rivet gun in a Norman Rockwell painting was called "Rosie the Riveter."
Published by The Record/Herald News on Dec. 31, 2010.

Memories and Condolences
for Geraldine Doyle

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9 Entries

kylee zimmerman

October 13, 2011

R.I.P Great grandmother. its coming up to yours and Grandpa Doyle wedding anniversary and i can truly say you both are missed sooo much we love you and will be with you in heaven soon .

Rick Rea

January 7, 2011

Rest in Peace Geraldine/Rosie! Many ladies at our annual CAF - Missouri Wing "Hangar Dance" dress up like "Rosie" to honor the women that worked in our factories to help win WWII.

Lance Rhines

January 5, 2011

A great inspiration to so many. Her historic image and what it stands for will live on. A true American icon. RIP Geraldine (Rosie).

January 4, 2011

Signed: Doris B. Hendrian, second cousin and audrey Hendrian Renner, second cousin also.

Mary Oberlin Aldrich

January 3, 2011

Dr. Doyle was my dentist for 24 years. Mrs. Doyle would let me sit at her desk and draw pictures while my parents would be in for their appointment and the next time I'd come back she'd show me what I had drawn. She kept them all in my folder. She will never be forgotten. RIP Mrs. Doyle......Mary (Oberlin) Aldrich

Martha May Fink

January 3, 2011

Geraldine - via Rosie - has been a big inspiration to me, so much so that my daughter and I posed as her back when my husband had deployed to Iraq nearly 6 years ago. Through her we found that we indeed "could do it" and we were all better and stronger as a result. We are now experiencing another cycle of deployment and plan on re-visiting our Rosie pose for my husband in March of this year. We honor Geraldine and all women who empower themselves to make the most of their situation and keep things on the home front as positive as possible. Geraldine's family should indeed be proud of what she represented for so long. We shall continue to honor her spirit!

Lynn L

January 1, 2011

A true American hero! RIP

SCOTT CHAMBERLAND

December 31, 2010

REST IN PEACE

Rita Guptill at Liberty Shipyard, 1944.

Nancy Poltack

December 31, 2010

Another of the "Greatest Generation" passes.....please accept my heartfelt condolences. Thank you, Mrs. Doyle for being the inspiration for Rosie. It has special signficance to me, because my mother (pictured here) worked in the West yard of Liberty Ships in South Portland, Maine during WWII when my father was on the USS Lexington and survived it's sinking in the Battle of the Coral Sea. The poster was an inspiration not only for your generation but all those to follow. Rosie is an icon that will live forever. God Bless and rest in peace.

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