Women’s Army Corps WWII Hero Series
Mabel Jaques – WAC Nurse
Mabel’s Memoirs, Part 5
MY LIFE in the SERVICE:
By Karen A. Smith
We’ve covered stories of Mabel serving as a nurse in the Army during WWII, but let’s go back a little bit to when she met the young man who courted her and would become her husband and father of three amazing children.
When I was a child, my family used to buy all our food from a nearby grocery store run by Frank and Katie Albrecht. Katie Albrecht would call my mother whenever there was a good buy for canning. Mr. Albrecht would always give us a choice of cookies or candy when we were sent to the store. When families couldn’t stretch their food money from payday to payday, he would give them credit, and let them pay when they could. My mother would put in an order every Saturday and we would get two large crates full of food for $10 (this was 1925).
Their son, Frank, worked for his parent’s grocery store and would deliver our groceries every Saturday. He’d always make it his business to stay for a while and visit. I remember the day well when our dog took after him. He used to tease our dog, Fluffy, every time he came to our house. Once the dog went after him and Frank just made it out of our backyard by jumping the back fence, or Fluffy would have had him by the seat of his pants. We often laughed about this.
When I was in nursing school, Frank and his father would go down to the market about 5 am and buy fresh fruit and vegetables. If there were flowers, he would buy me a bouquet and bring it by the nurses’ home where I stayed while attending nursing school. I was teased a lot about this.
Frank and I were out with another couple horseback riding the day Pearl Harbor was bombed, The United States declared war on Japan. Within a month’s time all the young fellows had signed up for service. Frank and all his friends, plus my brother, Bill, signed up to fight the “Japs”. It was such a lonely and empty feeling after they left for war. Frank and I wrote to each other frequently. He took a leave when I was visiting my brother at the Coast Guard Station at Tom’s River, New Jersey. I was so glad to see him. Later I found out he had gone AWOL to see me!
(While serving as a Navy nurse) June 6, 1944, Invasion Day in France, there was a lot of excitement all over camp. We all knew we would be on the move soon. At this time, we didn’t know where we were going. Frank called me from Mississippi. I could not tell him where we were headed overseas. I was surprised and thrilled to receive his phone call. Talking to him picked up my spirits. [After the war] Since I had a position at Wayne County General Hospital waiting for me when I returned from service, I started back to work within a week. I was anxious to get back to normal. The last letter I had received from Frank said that he did not expect to be home for Christmas. I was disappointed I would not be seeing him for the holidays, but was glad his discharge time was near.
That Christmas my family and I attended midnight mass at St. Paul’s Catholic Church. I was standing in the back looking for my folks, when suddenly I was grabbed from the back and kissed. Here was Frank Albrecht! I was very happy and surprised to see him. He was able to get a four-day pass and wanted to see me. We saw each other every day he was home.
After he was discharged he got a job back home in Detroit. We saw each other about 4 times a week, even though we didn’t go anyplace special. Sometimes we would just go for a walk and stop at a nearby drugstore for a coke or sundae, while other times we sat on the front porch and talked. Saturday evenings we would go to a show. The theaters had an organ, and we often had sing-a-longs or stage shows. After the show, we would take a walk along Washington Blvd. where all the ritzy stores were and just go window shopping. In those days, a date would only cost a fellow maybe $5-$8.
We grew very close and one night after a date he asked me to marry him. I said I loved him and yes, I would marry him. He told me if I had not been so independent that he would have asked me to marry him much sooner. Frank had said that he wanted to stand on the roof tops and tell the whole world that I loved him.
Frank and Mabel were married on October 5th, 1946 at St. Vincent’s Church. Fourteen months later they were blessed with a baby girl, Pat. Three years later they were blessed with another child, a little boy, Frank Herman. And then in 1955, another beautiful daughter, Debbie.
[When we got married] Frank was manager of the Sears Catalog Sales Department. He didn’t want me to work [outside the home]. After he left for work I would busy myself around the house and have dinner ready when he came home. Frank always called me at noon to see how I was doing and to say he loved me.
In 1952 he was promoted to Branch Manager of the portable Typewriter Division of Remington Rand in Atlanta, Georgia. Frank’s job had him traveling a lot during the week, but he was home on the weekend. We truly took on the Southern way of living, slow and easy. On Sunday morning Frank and I took such pride in taking our children to mass. We were a busy family, involved in many different activities.
After eight years in Atlanta, Frank received a promotion which meant we had to move to Seattle, Washington. We were there for about a year and a half when Frank was promoted again to San Francisco. Time to move again.
Our family lived a happy life in Terra Linda. Often in the evenings after supper, Frank and I would take walks and just drink in the scenery. We had come a long way since we left Detroit. Each time we moved we had improved our life style.
It was a week before Christmas, 1961 and Frank was away on business (Pat was 13 years old, Chip was 11 years old and Deb only 6). That’s when tragedy stuck our family. I received a call that Frank had been taken to the hospital with a bleeding ulcer and I should come as soon as possible. I was in a state of shock. I stayed at the hospital all the time during his illness, but since he was in intensive care I was only able to see him in intervals. He knew I was there with him, for when I spoke, he would squeeze my hand.
After eleven days in the hospital, on December 31st, Frank visited the angels. He had a very peaceful death, and as the nurse remarked to me, he had a smile on his face as though he had seen God in Heaven. I can still remember that smile on his face. I felt like a lost soul, but I knew I had to pick up my shattered world and go on living. I thank God for our children. They gave me something to live for and they were so helpful in many ways. I am sure Frank was watching over us with the many decisions that had to be made for our family.
To be continued…
