Lorraine Dorothy (Cadieux) Hamilton, of Traverse City, Michigan, our exceptional mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by family on February 28, 2024, at the age of 102.
Lorraine was born in Cheboygan, MI, on July 31, 1921, the seventh of eleven children in her family, to parents Elizabeth (Forest) and Alfred Cadieux. She had eight sisters and two brothers.
When she was eight years old, a fire destroyed the family home in town. Their dog woke up the household and they were all able to get out safely. They moved to a farm five miles from Cheboygan and started a new chapter, living humbly, raising most of their own food and cutting wood to heat the home. It was a loving family in which the children were instilled with a strong work ethic, but the family enjoyed joyful times too, and she had fond memories of going down to Mullet Lake to swim in the summer after daily chores were done.
During the school year, the children had to walk many miles to town and back in all kinds of weather. Lorraine enjoyed school, and she was a good student.
As a young girl, Lorraine was impressed with and inspired by the care provided by a visiting nurse for a family member. Upon graduation from high school, she enrolled in the Traverse City State Hospital's School of Nursing in 1939. A few years later, after World War II had broken out, nurses were greatly needed to support the war effort. Lorraine was one of 12 in her 1942 nursing school graduating class of 18 who enlisted. No recruiters came by. They expressed a desire, went through additional training, and volunteered.
Thus began one of the great adventures of her lifetime, an odyssey that took this brave, untraveled farmgirl from northern Michigan across the United States and on to wartime Europe. In preparation, from March to August of 1943, Lorraine applied her knowledge and skills helping to train and set up 8 Army field hospitals across the country, from California to New Jersey.
Then on August 14, 1943, she and 5,000 other Army troops boarded the British war ship "Aquitania" bound for Europe. With German submarines in the North Atlantic, they had to change course every 10 minutes, she recalled, on a crossing that took them 8 days.
Lorraine was part of a group or 95 nurses from all over the U.S. assigned to staff a temporary 1000-bed, American-built orthopedic hospital 60-miles west of London. Staying in spartan barracks there, surgical nurses such as Lorraine helped with 8 or 10 surgeries a day and worked in shifts staffing surgical and recovery units around the clock. They provided good care to their patients, mostly 18-to-20-year olds with leg fractures and shrapnel wounds. They also appreciated the hard work it took to get them to this hospital, with injured soldiers coming from France and Germany by whatever transportation was available, including glider, plane, train, or military vehicle. They received many injured soldiers from the Battle of the Bulge, as well as German-held American prisoners-of-war after the war ended in 1945.
She and the other nurses at this hospital were subsequently promoted to the rank of first lieutenant and traveled back to the United States aboard the Queen Elizabeth, one of this famous ship's first voyages. Seeing America's coastline finally come into view, and the Statue of Liberty there in the harbor, Lorraine recalls, was a sight and a feeling that was "very, very special."
Up for a promotion to captain after the war ended, she instead left the military in June 1946 to care for her mother. Lorraine's two brothers, Howard and Bob, also served in the European Theater during the war, and worrying had taken a toll on their mother.
Lorraine continued her nursing career upon returning to Michigan, working at the Thirlby Clinic in Traverse City. In 1950, she married Traverse City history teacher Robert Hamilton, with whom she raised 4 children-- sons John, Don, and Greg, and daughter Julia.
She was a wise and well-respected person who had many friends, including a number of younger people who regarded her as their surrogate mother. Exemplifying her commitment to public service and causes greater than oneself, Lorraine gave generously of her time to help others and make her community a better place. For 25 years she worked on the local Cancer Crusade fundraiser, serving as a neighborhood chairperson. She was actively involved in her children's and local kids' education and development through their school's Parent Teacher Association, a Child Study Club, and the Cub Scouts. She also volunteered as a poll worker, among other community contributions.
For over 70 years, Lorraine lived on West 8th Street, where she was known as a bit of a walking history book for the Central Neighborhood. In the 1970s, she and neighbors collected signatures for a petition to thwart a plan to cut down the trees, take out the sidewalks, tear up the street bricks, and add a third lane to widen the street as a cross-town thoroughfare. That never happened, in large part to their efforts, and 8th Street today remains a gem of a walkable neighborhood, on a brick-paved residential street lined with mature maple trees and shaded front lawns.
Robert retired in 1978 from Traverse City Public Schools, and they were fortunate enough to enjoy winters at their condo in Bradenton, FL, for many years, where Lorraine greatly enjoyed swimming in the outdoor pool (after all the daily chores were done).
Lorraine was preceded in death by her parents, 8 of 10 siblings, and her husband Robert of 58 years, in 2008. She was also preceded in death by daughter-in-law Betsy and son-in-law Randy. She is survived by sons John (Lauri) of Ashland, OR; Don of Milanville, PA; Greg (Paddy) of Williamsburg, MI; daughter Julia of Tacoma, WA; as well as 4 granddaughters and 2 great grandsons. Lorraine was deeply loved by her family and so many others, and will be greatly missed by all who knew her.
She was a devout Catholic and a member of Immaculate Conception Parish.
Contributions can be made to the Father Fred Foundation and the American Cancer Society.
The family would like to thank all the loving and dedicated friends, neighbors, relatives, caregivers and organizations that helped enable Lorraine to live in her home these past many years. These include devoted cousin Anne, neighbors Nic and Dea, Mike and Julie, caregiver extraordinaire Sue, Holly and the Grand Traverse County Commission on Aging, Comfort Keepers Vicki and Christen, NPalliative nurse Emily, Kendra of Bayside Hospice, caregivers Dee, Edie, and Gayle and friends Cathy and Tamra.
There will be a visitation on Sunday, March 3, 2024 from 6 to 8 pm at Reynolds Jonkhoff Funeral Home. The rosary will be prayed at 8 pm.
The funeral mass will be held at Immaculate Conception Church on Monday, March 4, 2024 at 11:00 am with visitation beginning one hour prior. A luncheon will follow at the VFW Hall.
Full Military honors will be rendered at Oakwood Cemetery on Tuesday, March 5, 2024 at 11:00 am.