A memorial service for Ruth “Nancy” Elizabeth Elbrader, 97, League City, TX, will be 2 pm Saturday, August 27, 2016, at Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home. Burial will follow with military honors at Grantville Cemetery, Grantville, KS.
She died Tuesday August 23, 2016, at The Crossing Retirement Center, League City, TX.
Nancy was born December 28, 1918, in Roswell, NM, the daughter of Arthur Leonard and Verlie Laura Erb Nance. As a child, Nancy moved around a lot and went to seven elementary schools and four high schools. She graduated from St. Joseph Nursing School in Albuquerque, NM in October 1940.
She served in the United States Army as a Nurse from 1941 to 1946. Nancy was awarded the Bronze Star on August 11, 1944 in France for continuing her nursing duties during a prolonged and intense enemy aerial bombardment and artillery barrage upon her hospital unit. Despite numerous penetrations of her hospital tent by shell fragments, she proceeded to alleviate the suffering and anxiety of her many patients. She was with the 47th Field Hospital.
After serving in the military, she worked as a nurse for six years at Haskell Indian Nations University when it was a high school. Nancy also worked at Hallmark cards as an on call Registered Nurse. She volunteered at local elementary schools to tell her story and the students would create a book of her life. Here is a quote from Nancy Elbrader included in one of these books:
“I’ve had a wonderful and interesting life. The turning point was when I chose nursing as my career, although I had never been inside a hospital even to visit anyone. My regrets for the most part, are those of omission rather than commission. I wish along the way that I had had more maturity and experience to know how important it was to thank (from the heart) the friends and family who have made my life an easier path to travel. I wish I had known how good it can make someone feel to give them a compliment, a phone call, or just write a short note.”
Nancy married Lieutenant Thomas J Leone October 1943. He was killed in France on December 4, 1944 by a sniper. Nancy married Lieutenant Col. William Conrad Elbrader on October 14, 1945. He preceded her in death on May 5, 1994.
Survivors include a daughter Carol, son-in-law Wayne and granddaughter Kari of League City, TX. Kari attends The University of Texas at San Antonio.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Visiting Nurses, University Of Kansas Medical Center, or Haskell Indian Nations-Haskell Health Center, sent in care of Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home, 601 Indiana Street Lawrence, KS 66044.
