Mary Joan Nielubowicz

Retired Rear Admiral Mary Joan Nielubowicz was the Director of the Navy Nurse Corps from 1983 to 1987.[2]

Mary Joan Nielubowicz
Grave at Arlington National Cemetery
Born(1929-02-05)5 February 1929
Shenandoah, Pennsylvania
Died24 March 2008(2008-03-24) (aged 79)
Fairfax, Virginia
AllegianceUnited States of America
Service/branchUnited States Navy
Years of service1951-1987
RankRear Admiral
Commands heldDirector of the United States Navy Nurse Corps
Awards
Other workChairman of the Veterans Administration's Committee for Women Veterans, board of directors of the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation, board of directors of Vinson Hall Corporation[1]

Early life

Mary Joan Nielubowicz was born on 5 February 1929 in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania to Joseph and Ursula Nielubowicz and graduated from Shenandoah Catholic High School.[3] She earned a nursing diploma from Misericordia Hospital, Philadelphia, in 1950.[2]

Nielubowicz joined the Navy Nurse Corps in 1951. While in the Nurse Corps, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Colorado in 1961 and a master of science degree in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania in 1965.[2]

She served in areas around the globe, including Portsmouth, Virginia, Corona, California, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Annapolis, Maryland, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Iwakuni, Japan, Cherry Point, North Carolina, Guam and Long Beach, California.[3]

Billets of increasing responsibility included that of senior nurse at the branch clinic in Iwakuni, Japan in 1967. In 1979 she became director of nursing services at the Naval Regional Medical Center, Portsmouth, Virginia.[2]

She became director of the Navy Nurse Corps in 1983, and was promoted to the rank of Commodore (equivalent to today's Rear Admiral (lower half). In 1985 the rank was changed to Rear Admiral.).[2] She served concurrently as deputy commander for Personnel Management and later as deputy commander for Health Care Operations.[2]

In 1986, Navy Nurse Corps members of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States (AMSUS) established the Mary J. Nielubowicz Essay Award in recognition of her outstanding support and encouragement of active and reserve nurses.

Admiral Nielubowicz died at her home in Fairfax, Virginia on 24 March 2008. She was interred at Arlington National Cemetery on 21 May 2008.[3]

See also

References

  1. Schudel, Matt (2008-04-24). "Adm. Mary J. Nielubowicz, 79; Top Navy Nurse". Washington Post. pp. B07.
  2. Godson, Susan H. (2001). Serving Proudly: A history of Women in the U.S. Navy. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-317-6.
  3. "Rear Admiral Mary J. Nielubowicz March 24, 2008". REPUBLICAN & Herald. 2008-04-12.

Further reading

Preceded by
Frances Shea-Buckley
Director, Navy Nurse Corps
1983-1987
Succeeded by
Mary Fields Hall
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