Elizabeth Duwe McCoy

McCoy, CDR Elizabeth Duwe, 88, USNNC (Ret.), died Saturday, August 26, 2006, in Emporia. Funeral service 10:00 A.M. Wednesday, August 30, 2006, at Downing Lahey Mortuary East. Graveside service 2:00 P.M. Wednesday, at Freeport Cemetery, Freeport, KS. Elizabeth Margaret Duwe was born at home on the family farm north of Bluff City, KS, on August 31, 1917, to Henry Elizabeth (Schnell) Duwe. She graduated from Anthony, KS, High School, in 1934 and from Wesley Hospital School of Nursing in 1939. In May of 1942 she was called into active duty by the US Navy Nurse Corp. She served in the Naval Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand during WWII. Other duty stations were: USNH, Philadelphia, PA; NAS, Willow Grove, PA; USNH Dublin, GA; Oakland, CA; Adak, AK; Bremerton, WA; Seattle, WA; Indiana Univ., IN, where she received a BS in Nursing; Newport, RI; Yokosuka, Japan; Sasebo, Japan; Portsmouth VA; MCCAS Cherry Point, NC. She retired on June 25, 1967, after 23 years of active duty. She was a long-time member of Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Wichita. On January 1, 1978, she was married to Ralph T. McCoy in Wichita. He preceded her in death in 1998. Also preceding her in death were three brothers, Herbert, Arthur and Phillip Duwe. She is survived by two sisters, Ruth Schmidt of Freeport, KS, and Lillian Velasquez and her husband Harold, of Berryton, KS; one grandson, Eric Nather of Murfreesboro, TN; and many nieces and nephews. Graveside service 2:00 P.M. Wednesday, at Freeport Cemetery, Freeport, KS