Lieutenant, US Navy, Caroline Revena Koetsch Scheffler

Born: August 5, 1909, Guthrie, Oklahoma  

Died: September 18, 2009, Santa Fe, New Mexico  

Lieutenant Caroline Revena Koetsch Scheffler joined the US Navy as one of the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) in January of 1943.¹ She completed her officer training at Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts by May of that same year and was commissioned as an ensign.² Koetsch Scheffler worked in Communications in Washington, D.C., and was promoted to lieutenant junior grade in May of 1944.^3,4 Still in Washington, she was promoted to full lieutenant in November of 1945.⁵ Lieutenant Koetsch left Washington in December of 1945 to begin the process of separation and was officially discharged February 16, 1946.^6,7

Caroline Revena was born to August and Rovena Koetsch on August 5, 1909 in Guthrie, Oklahoma. She grew up there as an only child.^8,9 Koetsch Scheffler played the violin while attending Guthrie High School, the school she graduated from in 1926.^10,11 Koetsch Scheffler went to the University of Kansas Design School for two years where she continued to play the violin as well as joining both Alpha Gamma Delta and Delta Phi Delta.^12,13,14 At the end of two years, one of her textile designs was chosen to represent the American Federation of Art at a show in Prague, Czechoslovakia.¹⁵

In the fall of 1928, Koetsch Scheffler left to attend the Rhode Island School of Design where she won a medal for her jewelry design, graduated in 1931, and was offered a job by Uncas Manufacturing.¹⁶ She excelled at jewelry design, having some of her first design work manufactured by the firm that October.¹⁷ She was still designing jewelry there in 1939, but in 1942 she started doing drafting work for the electrical division of Naval Engineers in Providence.^18,19 This was likely one of the reasons she joined the WAVES in January of 1943.

After serving, Koetsch Scheffler lived in Stamford, Connecticut.²⁰ There she held a job as s technical illustrator with the publishing company of Cushing and Nevell.^21,22 She was successful enough in the publishing industry to take a trip to Bermuda in October of 1952.²³ In 1953, she married investment banker William Scheffler of New York.²⁴

He appears to have retired in 1958 and the couple moved to Santa Fe where she worked for Eberline.^25,26 1960 was a busy year for Koetsch Scheffler as she not only designed a stamp of the Governor’s Palace in Santa Fe for the Stamp Club, she was still a lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserves and was chosen to organize the annual WAVES reunion in Dallas.^27,28 The 1960s was the time for reunions, and in ’64 Koetsch Scheffler found herself invited to the reunion of the international sorority of university women, Alpha Gamma Delta.²⁹ But after all this celebration, the 60s ended on a bad note for Koetsch Scheffler as she lost her husband in 1967.³⁰

It slowed Koetsch Scheffler down, but it didn’t stop her. She was active in the Panhellenic Society, even becoming its treasurer in 1975.³¹ By 1981, she was also elected to a three-year term on the governing board of her church, while the next year found her exhibiting her artwork again as a member of the Las Tejadoras de Santa Fe y Los Alamos weavers.^32,33 Growing older, Koetsch Scheffler had moved into the El Castillo Retirement Center, being elected as treasurer of the Residents’ Association in 1987.³⁴

Caroline Revena Koetsch Scheffler passed away on 18 September 2009 at the age of 100.

Images & Documents

Notes:

1. “Koetsch, Caroline Revena.” Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Koetsch Scheffler’s middle name is spelled various ways. Her mother was Rovena – see her obituary listed below – but her name also tended to be spelled various ways. Since Revena is the spelling on Koetsch Scheffler’s military record, it is the one used here.
2. “Ensign in WAVES.” Guthrie Daily Leader. Guthrie, Oklahoma. 10 March 1943. p. 1.
3. “Men and Women in Service.” Guthrie Daily Leader. Guthrie, Oklahoma. 26 July 1944. p. 3.
4. “Koetsch, Caroline.” United States Military Registers, 1902–1985. Salem, Oregon: Oregon State Library. 1944, July.
5. “Koetsch, Caroline.” United States Military Registers, 1902–1985. Salem, Oregon: Oregon State Library. 1945, November.
6. Lt. Koetsch Discharged.” Guthrie Daily Leader. Guthrie, Oklahoma. 17 December 1945. p. 6.
7. “Koetsch, Caroline Revena.” Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The hometown paper for Guthrie reports her being discharged in December, but according to her military records, her official discharge was in February.
8. “Keich/Koetsch” Year: 1910; Census Place: Guthrie Ward 2, Logan, Oklahoma; Roll: T624_1260; Page: 10b; Enumeration District: 0124; FHL microfilm: 1375273. The family name is incorrect, but it fits the information on the 1920 census as to place, everyone’s ages, and her father’s job, so it’s likely just a spelling mistake and is the correct entry.
9. “Koetsch.” Year: 1920; Census Place: Guthrie Ward 2, Logan, Oklahoma; Roll: T625_1470; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 52.
10. “Annual High School Recital of Great Merit.” Oklahoma State Register. Guthrie, Oklahoma. 24 April 1924. p. 8.
11. “Ensign in WAVES.” Guthrie Daily Leader. Guthrie, Oklahoma. 10 March 1943. p. 1.
12. “Little Symphony Orchestra.” U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012; School Name: University of Kansas; Year: 1928.
13. “Alpha Gamma Delta.” U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012; School Name: University of Kansas; Year: 1928.
14. “Caroline Koetsch, New York Man Schedule May 23 Nuptials.” Guthrie Daily Leader. Guthrie, Oklahoma. 3 May 1953. p. 4
15. “Miss Koetsch Honored.” Guthrie Daily Leader. Guthrie, Oklahoma. 24 May 1928. p. 2.
16. “Talk of the Town.” Guthrie Daily Leader. Guthrie, Oklahoma. 10 June 1931. p. 8.
17. Peck, Sammie Lea. “Heard Around Guthrie.” Guthrie Daily Leader. Guthrie, Oklahoma. 25 October 1931. p. 3.
18. “Leaves Saturday.” Guthrie Daily Leader. Guthrie, Oklahoma. 6 January 1939. p. 5.
19. “Ensign in WAVES.” Guthrie Daily Leader. Guthrie, Oklahoma. 10 March 1943. p. 1.
20. “Guthrie Friends Miss Hibernating Terrapin.” Guthrie Daily Leader. Guthrie, Oklahoma. 31 October 1946. p. 1.
21. “Koetsch, Caroline.” National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut; Roll: 104; Page: 8; Enumeration District: 13-84B.
22. “Caroline Koetsch, New York Man Schedule May 23 Nuptials.” Guthrie Daily Leader. Guthrie, Oklahoma. 3 May 1953. p. 4
23. “Koetsch, Caroline.” The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Series Title: Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels and Airplanes Departing from New York, New York, 07/01/1948-12/31/1956; NAI Number: 3335533; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85; Series Number: A4169; NARA Roll Number: 189. Trip to Bermuda 1952.
24. See note 22.
25. “Caroline Scheffler.” Santa Fe New Mexican: Obituary. Santa Fe, New Mexico. 26 September 2009. p. 12.
26. “Eberline Moves its Administrative Offices.” Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe, New Mexico. 22 November 1964. sec B p. 5. Koetsch Scheffler received a five-year pin here, so she’d been with the company since 1959.
27. “First Day Cover Plans Completed by Stamp Club.” Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe, New Mexico. 27 March 1960. p. 18.
28. “Named Jefe.” Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe, New Mexico. 5 June 1960. p. 18.
29. “Alpha Gamma Delta Reunion Day Slated.” Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe, New Mexico. 15 April 1963. p. 3.
30. “W.G. Scheffler is Dead at 67.” Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe, New Mexico. 20 December 1967. p. 3.
31. “Panhellenic Officers.” Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe, New Mexico. 5 October 1975. sec C p. 6.
32. “Holy Faith Episcopal.” Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe, New Mexico. 31 January 1981. sec C p. 2.
33. “Art Scene.” Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe, New Mexico. 22 October 1982. Pasatiempo p. 6.
34. “Center Chooses Officers.” Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe, New Mexico. 25 January 1987. sec B p. 2.

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

Featured Image:

“Caroline Koetsch.” U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012; School Name: Guthrie High School; Year: 1926.