Mavis Vanderpool Kohler of Oak Ridge died peacefully Sunday morning, Sept. 6, at age 99. She was a proud veteran of World War II.
She was teaching school when Pearl Harbor was attacked. She remembered hearing President Roosevelt’s radio speech and then followed her two brothers into military service. She was among the first group of women to enlist in the U.S. Navy’s WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). Leaving eastern Kentucky for the first time in her life, she boarded a train and reported to Hunter College in New York City for basic training. Following basic and advanced training, she served as a pharmacist’s mate in the Medical Corps and was based in Washington, D.C., working in U.S. Navy clinics and hospitals.
After her honorable discharge, she moved to Oak Ridge where she worked in an administrative position for the Atomic Energy Commission at the Castle on the Hill. There she met Pete Kohler, another World War II vet who was from New York State, and they married in 1948 in Clinton. After relocations for work, they moved back to Oak Ridge in 1953 where they lived the rest of their lives.
Pete Kohler died 10 years ago. They were married for 62 years and raised three children. According to the obituary, the Kohlers participated in an HonorAir Flight to Washington, D.C., in 2009.
Mavis Kohler will be buried in Oak Ridge Memorial Park with full military honors at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10, in The Garden of Valor, the veterans’ section of the cemetery. Both the Patriot Guard Riders and the East Tennessee Veterans Honor Guard will participate. Additional info here.