3/14/2007 6:00:00 PM
Imogene Kennedy Schmidt
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Services for Imogene "Jean" Kennedy Schmidt were held Friday, March 9, 2007, at 10 a.m. from the Lutheran Church of the Foothills in La Canada, Calif. Burial was in Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills with military honors.
Mrs. Schmidt, 88, died Saturday, March 3, 2007, in her home.
She was born Oct. 13, 1918. in Philadelphia to Mittie Ola and Roy Joseph Kennedy, the second of eight childen. She graduated from Coldwater School in Philadelphia and received her R.N. degree from the University of Tennessee in January of 1941. She entered the U.S. Army Nursing Corp later that year receiving basic training at Fort Benning, Ga.
She was stationed in the Philippines on Dec. 8, 1941, when Clark Air Force Base was attacked. On Dec. 24, 1941, she and 77 other nurses were evacuated to Bataan. Under siege from Japanese forces, the nurses were conveyed to the island fortress of Corregidor and captured on May 6, 1942, becoming the first American women POWs. She was later confined at Santo Tomas Internment Camp where she was liberated by the First Cavalry on Feb.3, 1945. During her imprisonment, she met her husband whom she married on May 3, 1945.
While serving in the Army Nurse Corp, Mrs. Schmidt received many honors including the Bronze Star and the Philippine Liberation Ribbon.
After the war, she settled in California with her husband Richard Schmidt. She continued nursing at Providence Hospital in Oakland, Mills Hospital in San Mateo, and La Vina Hospital in Altadena. She volunteered with the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, in hospitals and at her church.
She was preceded in death by her husband Richard of 49 years.
Survivors include one son, Richard Jr.,; one daughter, Susan Johnson; two sisters, Annie McDonald and June Miller; one brother, Tom Kennedy, and four grandchildren.
Memorials may be made to the Lutheran Church in the Foothills or Women in Military Service for America.
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