TEC 4 Sergeant Women’s Army Corps, Anna Marie Kearney Williams

Born: November 18, 1924, Philadelphia, PA

Died: November 24, 2017, Albuquerque, NM

TEC 4 Sergeant Anna Marie Kearney Williams joined the US Army Women’s Army Corps (WAC) on December 21, 1944, only one month after she turned 20, the minimum age of enrollment.¹ As Private Kearney, she was sent to the 3rd WAC Training Center Fort Oglethorpe, Chickamauga, Georgia. There she would have undergone “basic training before moving on to more advanced training in [her] individual specialties.”² These specialties were determined by the AGCT test. And those who passed with scores of 100 or higher and had graduated from high school were taken for three months of training as medical and surgical technicians.³ After completing her training, Kearney Williams was sent to Borden General Hospital in Chickasha, Oklahoma.⁴ Her family later remembered that Sgt. Kearney served in Germany, but that appears impossible since she spent 1945 after her training and most of 1946 before her discharge at Borden.^5,6,7 They might be misremembering her service to Germans as there was a German POW camp established near the US Army established Borden in 1944.⁸ TEC 4 Sergeant Kearney was released from the WAC in the late summer of 1946.⁹

Anna Marie Kearney was born on November 18, 1924, to John Joseph and Anna Lee Kearney. Both were immigrants who declared their intention to become American citizens during the war.¹⁰ Kearney Williams grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, along with one sister and three brothers.^11,12

During her service, Kearny Williams spent time around the Tuttle area of Oklahoma, visiting the families of women she worked with.¹³ It was likely there, in 1946, that she met Elmer I. Williams, a recently released Navy man.¹⁴ Naval Radioman 1^st class Williams was a psychology major at Oklahoma University on the GI Bill with family ties to the Tuttle area.^15,16,17 They waited to marry until after his graduation, as she was living with her family in Philadelphia in 1950.¹⁸

By 1960, they were married and living in Chickasha, Oklahoma.¹⁹ The Williams family would have two daughters and two sons.²⁰ At some point, the couple would divorce.²¹

Anna Marie Kearney Williams died November 24, 2017, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Images & Documents

Notes:

1. “Kearney, Anna Marie.” National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland, USA; Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946.
2. Autry, Brian, Chris Barr, & Christopher Young. “The Women’s Army Corps at Chickamauga.” National Parks Service. 11 January 2020.

para 3.

3. Bellafaire, Judith A. “Chapter XIX: The Medical Department (ASF).” The Women’s Army Corps: A Commemoration of World War II Service. CMH Publication 72-15. Last updated 17 February 2005. p. 340.
4. “Technicians Continue Arriving at Borden.” Chickasha Daily Express. Chickasha, Oklahoma. 17 July 1945. p. 1
5. “Anna Marie Kearney Williams.” Albuquerque Journal Obituaries. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 3 December 2017. Sec. B p. 3
6. “Purely Personal.” Tuttle Times. Tuttle Oklahoma. 30 May 1946. p. 4.
7. “Tuttle Pa and Ma Give a Dinner Party.” Chickasha Daily Express. Chickasha, Oklahoma. 14 May 1946. p. 4.
8. Jefferies, Anna. “Chickasha.” Oklahoma Historical Society: Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Copyright 2023. para. 4.
9. “Get Acquainted Party by Traffic Dept. of Bell Phone Co.” The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. 24 October 1946. p. 20.
10. “Kearny, John Joseph and wife Anna Declaration of Intent.” Naturalization Records. National Archives at Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
11. “Kearney.” United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930.
12. “Kearney.” United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940.
13. See notes 6 and 7.

14 & 15. “Williams, Elmer – selective service after discharge from Navy.” National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For Oklahoma.

16. “E.I. Williams Invited to Join OU Fraternity.” Tuttle Times. Tuttle Oklahoma. 24 February 1949. p. 1.
17. “Williams Elmer.” Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/153112951/elmer-irvin-williams: accessed 13 July 2023), memorial page for Elmer Irvin Williams (3 Sep 1925–13 Aug 2015.
18. “Kearney.” Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census. 1913-1/1/1972. Population Schedules for the 1950 Census.
19. “Williams, Elmer (Ann M).” Title: Chickasha, Oklahoma, City Directory, 1960.
20. “Anna Marie Kearney Williams.” Albuquerque Journal Obituaries. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 3 December 2017. Sec. B p. 3
21. “Carol Ann Williams.” Times-News: Obituaries. Twin Falls, Idaho. 8 December 2004. p. 10.

 Compiled by: A. D. McLean, MA, MLIS. Central New Mexico Community College, retired 2022.

Featured Image:

“Anna Marie Kearney Williams.” Albuquerque Journal Obituaries. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 3 December 2017. Retrieved: 5 July 2023. https://www.newspapers.com/image/355612793 Sec. B p. 3