Second Lieutenant, US Army Nurse Corps Gayle Ruth Wahl Davis 

Born: May 19, 1920, Seattle, Washington
Died: January 21, 2000, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Second Lieutenant Gayle Ruth Wahl Davis trained as a nurse in her hometown of Detroit Michigan. It was sometimes difficult to get women to train as nurses as there were a lot of myths about nursing at this time; “they [nurses] had to endure a belief current in America during that period—that nursing was not a suitable vocation for a woman of good character. It was considered ‘indecent’ because these women treated men as well as women with the most intimate of diseases and illnesses.”¹ But Wahl Davis would have seen this article dispelling some of the current myths about nursing in a local paper at about the time she graduated from high school.² The article recommended some college before nurses’ training, and Wahl Davis was in school still in 1940, possibly either in college or nursing training.³ She might even have taken advantage of a newly funded nurses training program in the Detroit area where she lived.⁴ Once trained as a nurse, Lt. Wahl joined the US Army Nurse Corps in February of 1945.⁵

The army assigned Wahl Davis to the 1575-bed Earl Bruns Hospital in Santa Fe, New Mexico.⁶ It was at Bruns that she met the four-and-a-half-year wounded veteran, Sergeant Davis.^7,8 The two were married in September of 1945.⁹ Second Lieutenant Wahl Davis continued to serve at Bruns until her honorable discharge in December of 1945.¹⁰

Gayle Ruth was born to Thomas and Arabella or Belle Wahl in Seattle, Washington on May 19, 1920.¹¹ Her brother was also born in Washington state, but her sisters were born when the family moved back to her parents’ native Michigan.¹² She grew up in and around the Detroit area.¹³

After marrying Lester Davis in 1945, and being released from the Army Nurse Corps, Wahl Davis settled down with her husband in Santa Fe, welcoming their first child in December of 1946.¹⁴ Wahl Davis supported her husband as he ran for public office in both 1948 and 1952.^15,16 She was active in the very large Kaune PTA, not only being the chairman of the school Halloween Karnival, but serving as its secretary and then its president.^17,18,19

By the 1960s, Wahl Davis had returned to her nursing, working as not only the Santa Fe County Public Health Nurse but working in the Santa Fe Chest Clinic to promote awareness and treatment of tuberculosis.^20,21 As the Public Health Nurse, she gave lectures on not only the importance of immunizations but on physical fitness as well.²² Her work was acknowledged by the County Health center with a pastel shower by her coworkers in 1961.²³

As the ’60s went on, Wahl Davis and her husband left Santa Fe to help his mother who lived in Chama, living in nearby Dulce, New Mexico.^24,25 After the passing of her mother-in-law, she and her husband moved to Albuquerque, where Gayle Ruth Wahl Davis passed away on January 21, 2000.²⁶

Images & Documents

Notes:

1. Prefer, Nathan N. “Army Nurses Corps: Angels in Olive Drab.” Warfare History Network. Winter 2018. para. 4.
2. “Guest Writes Description of Nurses’ Training.” Detroit Free Press. Detroit, Michigan. 3 November 1938. p. 13.
3. “Wahl.” Year: 1940; Census Place: Detroit, Wayne, Michigan; Roll: m-t0627-01839; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 84-26. This census lists her as in school.
4. “Council Ok’s School for Nurses’ Training.” Detroit Evening Times. Detroit, Michigan. 20 July 1943. p. 6.
5. “Gayle R. Davis.” Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
6. WW2 Military Hospitals Zone Of Interior (United States)” WW2 US Medical Research Centre. Copyright 2007-2023. Accessed: 16 August 2023.
7. “Davis.” Albuquerque Journal. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 3 June 1948. p. 12.
8. “Davis, Lester T.” New Mexico Commission of Public Records, State Records Center, and Archives; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Subsubseries: WWII Service Records (Biographical Questionnaires for New Mexicans Serving in the Armed Forces); Box Number: 13620; Box Title: Service Records Coa-Coo to Goo-Gow.
9. “Marriage Licenses.” Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe, New Mexico. 15 September 1945. p. 4.
10. See note 5.
11. “Gayle Ruth Wall.” Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington; Washington State Births 1907-1920. The family regularly used Wall, Walls, and Wahl.
12. “Wahl.” Year: 1930; Census Place: Detroit, Wayne, Michigan; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 0337; FHL microfilm: 2340780.
13. Both the 1930 and the 1940 census list the family as living in Detroit.
14. “Births.” Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe, New Mexico. 3 December 1946. p. 5.
15. “Davis.” Albuquerque Journal. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 3 June 1948. p. 12.
16. “Lester T. Davis.” Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe, New Mexico. 30 January 1952. p. 6.
17. “Kaune Karnival Set Wednesday Evening.” Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe, New Mexico. 28 October 1956. p. 8.
18. “Kaune PTA Sets Special Events.” Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe, New Mexico. 25 March 1955. p. 5.
19. “Kaune PTA Numbers 141.” Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe, New Mexico. 13 November 1958. p. 9.
20. “It Hurts, But It’s Worth It.” Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe, New Mexico. 10 January 1960. p. 1.
21. “Santa Fe Chest Clinic: X-rays Answer the TB Mystery.” Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe, New Mexico. p. 15.
22. “P-TA Meeting.” Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe, New Mexico. 12 October 1961. p. 12.
23. “Paso Por Aqui.” Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe, New Mexico. 28 June 1961. p. 5.
24. “For One Out of Two Cars.” Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe, New Mexico. 12 October 1962. p. 9. According to this Gulf advertisement, the couple was still in Santa Fe in 1962,
25. “Lyod, Annie L.” Santa Fe New Mexican: Obituaries. Santa Fe, New Mexico. 19 November 1969. p. 14. Wahl Davis’ mother-in-law had been ill for some time before her death.
26. “Davis, Gayle Ruth.” Albuquerque Journal: Obituaries. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 23 January 2000. sec D p. 12.
27. Compiled by: A. D. McLean, MA, MLIS. Central New Mexico Community College, retired 2022.

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

Featured Image:

“Gayle Ruth Wahl Davis in uniform.” Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/17533001/gayle-ruth-davis: accessed 27 August 2023), memorial page for Gayle Ruth Davis (19 May 1920–21 Jan 2000), Find a Grave Memorial ID 17533001, citing Santa Fe National Cemetery, Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, New Mexico, USA.