Hospital Apprentice 1^st Class, US Navy, Sarah Jean Gibson Lee

Born: June 15, 1922, Des Moines, Iowa
Died: September 15, 2006, Clovis, New Mexico

Hospital Apprentice 1^st class Sarah Jean Gibson joined the US Navy as one of the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) in August of 1943.¹ Her basic training was likely at Cedar Falls, Iowa, since she joined in Des Moines, even though the majority of WAVES received their basic training at Hunter College in Bronx, New York.² After Gibson Lee completed her basic training she went to Bethesda, Maryland for a four-week course in “anatomy, physiology, first aid and minor surgery, hygiene and sanitation, nursing, metrology, pharmacology and included three weeks of ward duty,” leaving as a Hospital Apprentice 2^nd class.³ From this training, she would have continued more in-depth training at the Naval Hospital Corps Training School in Great Lakes, Illinois that would include “three months of instruction in nursing, elementary anatomy, physiology, elementary hygiene, pharmacy and the medical use of drugs, bandaging and splints, first aid, and discipline and drill. Upon course completion, each graduate was assigned to a naval hospital for a period of practical instruction before being detailed to a ship or station.”^4,5

Once her Hospital Corps training was complete, HA Gibson Lee was stationed in the Naval V-12 Unit at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana.⁶ Sometime before July of 1945, she was transferred to the 2^nd Naval Training School in Dearborn, Michigan, and promoted to Hospital Apprentice 1^st class.⁷ While few details of her service there are known, it was to have a profound impact on Gibson Lee’s life. Hospital Apprentice 1^st class Sarah Jean Gibson Lee was honorably discharged from Great Lakes, Illinois in December of 1945.^8,9

Sarah Jean was born in Des Moines, Iowa on June 15, 1922, to Elmer and Lotta Gibson.¹⁰ While she had an older sister and brother, she was twelve and nine years younger than they were and grew up virtually as an only child.^11,12 She attended North High School where she played on the golf team.¹³ She also attended the Y.W.C.A. camp in the summer.¹⁴

After graduation, she attended Drake University as a Liberal Arts Major.¹⁵ She also was a member of the Women’s Council for the Central Presbyterian Church and worked with the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) where her mother was also a member.^16,17 At Drake, she attended meetings of Kappa Alpha Theta, a women’s fraternity, though she joined the educational fraternity Delta Sigma Epsilon.^18,19

However, in the midst of her studies, she heard the call and served as a Navy WAVE, serving as a Hospital Apprentice for over two years. After which, she maintained her membership in the DAR, but left Liberal Arts behind and attended the Still College of Osteopathy.^20,21 She did her internship at the Chicago Hospital of Osteopathy in Chicago, Illinois.²² With her studies completed, she returned to her parents’ home in Des Moines and opened her own osteopathic practice.^23,24

Having undertaken medicine as a career, Gibson Lee was to make a name for herself in this profession, being elected president of the Academy of Applied Osteopathy in 1953 and was re-elected the following year.^25,26 She did not forget her service as a WAVE and joined the Veterans’ Administration, becoming bridge champion of her local chapter in 1954.²⁷ Gibson Lee was elected to the Board of her local chapter of the DAR in 1956, and elected as president of the local Philanthropic Educational Organization (P.E.O.) in 1958.^28,29

But the days of her dedication to these groups were numbered as Gibson Lee met Robert Gene Lee. The pair were married in December of 1959.³⁰ While she continued her practice after her marriage, later she became a professor at the University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Sciences.³¹ While she joined the Literary Club at this time, she cut back on her outside activities to raise her son.^32,33 Gibson Lee brought all the energy she had dedicated to her clubs to raising her son and teaching the next generation.³⁴ Gibson Lee’s son would honor his mother’s service by joining the US armed forces.³⁵

When Gibson Lee and her husband retired, they moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico.³⁶ As the pair aged, they moved to the Retirement Ranch in Clovis, New Mexico.³⁷ It was there, on September 15, 2006, that Sarah Jean Gibson Lee passed away.

Images & Documents

Notes:

1. “Take 60 Women as WAVES Here.” Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. 4 August 1943. p. 9.
2. Sobocinski, Andre. “Making WAVES: Remembering the First Women of the Hospital Corps.” Navy Medicine: Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. 17 March 2023. para. 8.
3. Sobocinski, Andre. “Making WAVES: Remembering the First Women of the Hospital Corps.” Navy Medicine: Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. 17 March 2023. para 10.
4. Sobocinski, Andre. “Building Corpsmen Culture: A Short History of the Hospital Corps ‘A’ School.” Defense Visual Information Distribution Services. 11 June 2021. para 5.
5. “Miss Sarah Jean Gibson.” Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. 20 October 1943. p. 6.
6. “Miss Sarah Jean Gibson.” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa. 1 March 1944. p. 8.
7. “First Lt. Francis P. Gibson.” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa. 24 July 1945. p. 12.
8. “Sarah Jean Gibson Lee.” WWII Bonus Case Files. State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa. Claim Number Range: 188098 – 194043.
9. “At Great Lakes Ill.” Des Moines Register Des Moines, Iowa. 18 February 1941. p. 10.
10. “Sarah Jean Gibson Lee.” State Historical Society of Iowa; Des Moines, Iowa; Title: Iowa Birth Records, 1888-1904. Year Range or Description: 1921-1923.
11. “Gibson.” Year: 1930; Census Place: Des Moines, Polk, Iowa; Page: 19A; Enumeration District: 0015; FHL microfilm: 2340409.
12. “Gibson.” Year: 1940; Census Place: Des Moines, Polk, Iowa; Roll: m-t0627-01194; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 100-33.
13. “Golf.” U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012; School Name: North High School; Year: 1939.
14. “Camp Period for Senior High Girls Opens.” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa. 10 July 1939. p. 9.
15. “Sarah Jean Gibson Lee.” U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012; School Name: Drake University; Year: 1942.
16. “Church Council to Meet Friday.” Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. 18 February 1941. p. 8
17. “D.A.R. Group to Entertain.” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa. 4 April 1940. p. 5.
18. “Two Groups to Entertain Saturday.” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa. 10 May 1940. p. 3.
19. “Delta Sigma Epsilon.” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa. 14 October 1941. p. 11.
20. “D.A.R. Chapter Theme will be Centennial.” Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. 6 October 1946. p. 2E.
21. “Dr. and Mrs. Edwin Peters Entertain Group at Tea.” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa. 28 November 1946. p. 23.
22. “Dr. Sarah Jean Gibson.” Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. 21 July 1949. p. 11.
23. “Gibson.” National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Des Moines, Polk, Iowa; Roll: 3448; Page: 26; Enumeration District: 102-59.
24. “Personalities in Commerce and Industry.” Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. 17 December 1950. p. 4X.
25. “Academy of Applied Osteopathy.” Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. 19 May 1953. p. 3.
26. “Three Osteopathic Groups to Elect New Officers.” Estherville Daily News. Estherville, Iowa. 25 May 1954. p. 3.
27. “Bridge Winners.” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa. 9 March 1954. p. 15.
28. “D.A.R. Chapter Plans Meeting.” Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. 3 June 1956. p. 3W.
29. “P.E.O. Chapters Elect New Officers.” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa. 13 March 1958. p. 18. For what the organization stands for, please see: https://www.peointernational.org/frequently-asked-questions
30. “Lee-Gibson Vows Said.” Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. 6 December 1959. p. 5W.
31. “Sarah Jean Gibson Lee.” Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. 17 September 2006. p. 9B.
32. “Literary Guild Held Yule Party, Monday 26.” Humbolt Republican. Humbolt, Iowa. 4 January 1967. p. 8.
33. “Dr. Sara Sutton of Fort Dodge.” Humbolt Independent. Humbolt, Iowa. 10 July 1965. p. 8.
34. “33 Osteopathic Students to Visit Six County Area.” Humbolt Independent. Humbolt, Iowa. 6 May 1972. p. 1.

35 & 36. “Military Briefs: Sgt. Clinton Lee.” Albuquerque Journal. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 26 December 1988. sec. C p. 15.

37. See note 31.

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

Featured Image:

“Sarah Jean Gibson Lee.” U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012; School Name: Drake University; Year: 1942.