Frieda Keso

Frieda Emily Keso, Major U.S. Air Force Retired, 95, died Thursday, January 30, 2003, at Michalene’s in Ripon.
Major Keso was born June 13, 1907, in Ripon, one of six children born to Frank Edward and Florence (Stallard) Keso. She was a graduate of Ripon High School, Columbia School of Nursing in Milwaukee, and Chicago Lying-In Hospital which was affiliated with the University of Chicago. While in the military, she studied administrative courses at State Teacher’s College in New York. She later attended Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, TX and took flight nurses training at Gunther Air Force Base in AL.
While serving as head nurse at Chicago Lying-In, she assisted Dr. M. Edward Davis in his research of Erogotnate, a substance used in the prevention of postpartum hemorrhage. Later she served in the obstetrics and gynecological clinic working with the chief of staff and 3 other obstetricians on the teaching staff of the University of Chicago. After 9 years at the hospital, she entered the Army Nurse Corps.
As a 2nd Lt. she was assigned to Fort Polk, LA where she was soon promoted to 1st Lt. She served as assistant chief nurse and later became chief nurse of the 650 bed hospital. Eventually she was to become chief nurse of the 100th Evacuation Hospital with a 400 bed capacity. She supervised a staff of 40 nurses and enlisted corpsmen, many of whom had to be trained. Her unit served in 4 major campaigns; the Battle of St. Lo, the Crossing of the Rhine, the Battle of the Bulge and the Crossing of the Elbe. In each case, she took care of the casualties of the divisions involved including a Canadian Division stationed in Antwerp, Belgium. After these campaigns, she was awarded the Bronze Star for her administration of the nursing service. Following V-E Day, she became chief nurse of the Berlin District with her home station the 101st General Hospital, a 1500 bed hospital on the edge of the Russian Sector and the home base of the 82nd Air Borne Division. Following her Berlin assignment, she was assigned to the Mediterranean Theatre where 5 hospitals were in operation. From her home station in Leghorn, Italy, she assigned new nurses to hospitals in Rome, Naples, Treste and Foggia, and prepared others for their return to the states.
After 37 months in the European Theatre, she was assigned to chief nurse of the New York Port of Embarkation with her office at the Brooklyn Air Base. While in New York, she supervised a staff of 185 nurses assigned to hospital and troop ships sailing between New York and Europe. During her 3 year assignment in New York, she was instrumental in starting 3 important veterans programs: transportation of war brides to this country, repatriation of the war dead and the Displaced Persons Program. Upon her transfer to the Air Force Medical Corps, she was assigned as chief nurse to Reese Auxiliary Air Force Base in Lubbock, TX which had been closed and reopened for the Korean Conflict. Another nursing assignment was at Chanute Air Force Base where extensive research was done on strep throat and its relation to rheumatic heart disease. This was an Army, Navy and Air Force Program. The following 13 months she spent in Morocco in a station hospital serving the 5th Air Division under SAC. An assignment then followed as chief nurse of Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX, the headquarters of the Flying Training Air, visiting hospitals under its command in Texas, Georgia, Kansas and Nevada.
Her Captaincy was received in Europe and her Majority in the United States. On July 31, 1958, after 20 years of service to her country, Frieda Emily Keso, Major Regular Air Force retired from Randolph Air Force Base.
In civilian life, Frieda took a course in Hotel and Apartment Management in Washington, DC where she worked for a short time.
On her return to Ripon, Frieda became an active city member. She served on the original Senior Citizens Committee and established Meals on Wheels. She was a member of the original Doctors Opportunity Committee (DOC), and served as secretary and president of the Ripon Business and Professional Women’s Club. She has been a member and secretary of the Ripon Educational Club, and was a life-member and secretary and president for 3 years of the Ripon Memorial Hospital Auxiliary. She was the first nurse to be elected to the Ripon Hospital Board of Directors where she served for 9 years. Her main emphasis and concerns for the community were providing quality nursing care and 24-hour coverage by a physician in the emergency room. As a promoter of the hospital building and grounds committee, she was active in helping to complete the Clara Zobel Baker Outpatient Clinic. In 1962, she worked with Mr. & Mrs. Emil Kesich in setting up Parkview Nursing Home, and was the nursing home’s first supervisor.
Frieda had worked at the Ripon College Infirmary and the emergency rooms at Green Giant and Speed Queen. She was a life-member of the Ripon Historical Society, and a member of the American Legion. Frieda was a member of the Immanuel United Methodist Church in Ripon where she had served as Circle Chairman and Board of Trustee member for several years.
Major Keso was preceded in death by her parents; 3 brothers, Edward who died at infancy, Harry and Byron; 2 sisters, Bernice and Minnie. Survivors include nephews, Frederick (Jeanette) Wilkes of Ripon and Harry (Fern) Keso, Jr. of Manawa; 3 grandnieces, Jean (John) Ridgway of Tennessee, Jennifer Keso of Oshkosh and Lynn (Tom) Shepardson of Illinois; 1 grandnephew, Thomas Wilkes of Nevada; 2 great-grandnephews and cousins of Texas; and 2 very special friends, Thelma Voeltner and Janet Quick of Ripon.
Funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, February 3, 2003, at Immanual United Methodist Church in Ripon with Rev. David A. Busker officiating. Friends may call on Monday from 10 a.m. until the time of the service at the church. Interment will be in Hillside Cemetery, Ripon. A memorial has been established.
Butzin-Marchant Funeral Home, Ripon, is assisting the family. www.butzinmarchant.com