Chrismer, Eva M.

Eva McGrady Chrismer 89, of Arizona passed away Wednesday, August 29, 2007. Born January 24, 1918, the year of the great flu pandemic, in Meadows of Dan, VA., Eva was one of fourteen children. During her childhood her mother Lena taught her how to give aid to those in need in the surrounding mountain community. Eva, her twin Edith, and two of her older sisters made up the girl’s basketball team in their Martinsville High School. She earned her nursing degree in September 1937 at the Elizabeth Buxton Hospital in Newport News and began her nursing career there. In 1938, Eva followed her fiancé’, Al Chrismer to Phoenix, where they married just as WWII broke out. She enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps in April 1944. Her first assignment was stateside at a German POW camp in Papago Park near Phoenix Arizona. In March 1945 she was reassigned to the South Pacific as a MASH nurse in the Luzon campaign with the Philippine liberation. While in the South Pacific she earned the rank of 1st Lt and was awarded three service medals including the Bronze star. After the was she worked for Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix and later at the Veterans Hospital in VA where her husband was an aviation link instructor at Andrews AFB. She moved to Hopewell, VA in 1949 and worked as an RN at John Randolph Hospital and later as a private nurse for the Daniels family at Brandon Plantation. She also worked as a public health nurse for Prince George County in the old Library building. In 1972 she moved back to Arizona and instructed Indian student nurses at Keam’s Canyon on the Hopi Reservation. There she successfully blended modern medical practices with the ancestral traditions of the Hopi medicine med. She was highly respected by the Hopi people and allowed into sensitive tribal areas that had been restricted to non-tribal peoples for over 200 years. Upon departure from Keam’s Canyon, she was told,” you are good for our people. " In 1974 she moved to Congress Junction Arizona, which at the time, was a turn of the century ghost town. She continued her clinical services with the community and was instrumental in starting the Congress Community Center by obtaining the old Southern Pacific Railroad schoolhouse and teacherage. In 1985 the Governor of Arizona recognized her contributions to the Senior Citizens of Congress with the Retired Senior Volunteer Program award. Eva helped the non-senior set in Congress as well and was known as the local Storyteller to school children. As the Hassayampa VFW Post 2862 Commander, Eva was a strong advocate for Vietnam vets’ rights. She held this post until 1992. During the horrific floods in the Upper Ohio Valley during the early 90’s, Eva knitted over one hundred stocking caps that were sent to a small community in Michigan. The community newspaper dubbed her as the “Cap-Lady”. In the spring of 2007, Eva was interviewed for the Ken Burns WWII documentary “The Was.” This compilation of living histories will not only air on PBS, but will also be entered into the Library of Congress. Eva was most proud of her contribution to this country’s was effort. Her time in the Pacific theater was centered two miles from the front during the Philippine Liberaton. In her lifetime of nursing she cared for veterans of the Spanish-American War, WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam and even remembered Civil Was Vets as a young child. Her husband, Joseph Albert Chrismer, her parents and twelve of her thirteen siblings preceded her in death. She is survived by her two sons; Robert Thomas Chrismer of Pawley’s Island, SC and Albert Michael Chrismer of High Rolls, New Mexico; her grandchildren, Kippston Chrismer, Katherine Chrismer, Lindsey Chrismer, and Arlington Chrismer; and her brother Frank McCrady of Stuart, VA. . She dedicated her life to helping others and in her words, sometimes “tender loving care was very often the main thing you could giver patients.” She unselfishly gave it to us and to all in need. Godspeed Mom, we love you and will all miss you. The family will receive friends Tuesday, September 4, 2007 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM in the Hopewell Chapel of J.T. Morriss & Son Funeral Home & Cremation Service. A funeral service will be held Wednesday, September 5, 2007 at 2:00 PM in the funeral home chapel with Father John Wagner officiating. Interment will follow in Appomattox Cemetery. Condolences may be registered with www.jtmorriss.com