A native of Iowa, she took her nurse’s training at Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines. She served four years in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War II including stints in both North Africa and Italy. After serving in the army from March 1942 until January 1946, she attended Anesthesia School at Northwestern Hospital (then Wesley Memorial) in Chicago. She now does volunteer work at Fairview Ridges Hospital and her local library. She is also a member of the Augsburg Park Library Writers’ Group.