NASHUAN TO JOIN WAVES
Miss Marilyn Dixon Has Passed Exams for Women's Auxiliary to the U.S. Navy
Miss Marilyn Dixon will be the first Nashuan to join the WAVES when she goes to Des Moines today to sign up for service. She has already passed entrance examinations.
She expects to be sent to Indiana to receive training.
The WAVES is the Women's Auxiliary to the Navy, as the WAAC is to the Army, and women who join will be trained to take over non combatant duties so more men can be released for active service.
Marilyn is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Dixon, living southeast of Nashua, and a member of the graduating class of '38 at Nashua high school. She has been working at Waterloo for the Iowa Public Service Co.
She has a brother-in-law, Roger Richards in the Navy.
Source: Nashua Reporter, October 7, 1942
Graduates from Training School for the WAVES
Marilyn Dixon is Home on Furlough
Marilyn Dixon was graduated Monday, February 1, from the WAVES Training School at the University of Indiana, Bloomington, Ind. She arrived home Wednesday for a week's furlough with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Dixon, southeast of Nashua. Marilyn is now a storekeeper third class in the WAVES, which is the Women's Auxiliary to the Navy. She was a member of the class of '38 at Nashua high school.
Source: Nashua Reporter, February 3, 1943 (photo included)
Where Are Those GI Janes Since They've Again Become Civilians?
What has happened to those Waterloo girls who looked so smart in Wave, Wac or Spar uniforms, traveled the country and the world and the were discharged from service to return to civilian life?
Well, many of them were married while in the service and have settled in other states or brought their husbands to Waterloo to live. Still others entered new fields of work and have gone on to college through the benefits of education provision of the GI bill of rights.
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Ex-Wave Marilyn Dixon came back to her job at Iowa Public Service Co. when she was discharged but her name had been changed to Mrs. Robert Bigelow. She and her husband, also a navy veteran, now live in a trailer.
Source: The Courier, Waterloo, IA - Sunday, March 9, 1947
Marilyn Leota Dixon Bigelow was born Mar. 18, 1921 to Clarence and Thyra Marie Michaelson Dixon. She died Dec. 30, 2017 and is buried in Cedar Valley Memorial Gardens, Cedar Falls, IA.
Marilyn served in World War II with the U.S. Navy WAVES Administrative Command, Great Lakes, IL.
Source: ancestry.com
