A Woman of Courage and Perseverance
by Alice Major
WAVES recruitment poster, 1943. Members of the WAVES, like Arlene Thorup, worked in a wide-range of positions, including clerical and hospital work, and as storekeepers, naval aviation training pilots, air traffic controllers, and parachute testers. (Naval History and Heritage Command)
Arlene Thorup and her husband, Alfred, suffered unspeakable loss with the deaths of their children. Dave and Chris’ tragedy made the front page of their local newspaper. (Carroll Daily Times Herald)
Navy WAVE Arlene Hamers Thorup
January 29, 1921 - May 1, 2013
Arlene was born Arlene Helen Hamers on January 29th, 1921, in the township of Maple River in Carroll County, Iowa.[1] She lived in the town of Carroll with her parents and eight siblings.[2] There, Arlene attended school at St. Angela’s Academy. She took part in her school’s operetta and Christmas pageant productions, and won first place for speed in an amateur typing contest.[3] After she graduated from high school in 1938,[4] she left to work in Omaha as an office secretary for the Rock Island Transfer Company. She worked there until 1943, when she left her job for basic training in the Navy WAVES.[5]
In both her employment and her volunteer enlistment, Arlene provides a great example of a woman taking advantage of opportunities during World War II. As men were siphoned into military service, they left behind a vacuum of job openings and an opportunity for women – especially young, single women like Arlene – to assume independent roles, whether as Rosie the Riveter-type factory employees or in more woman-dominated fields like Arlene’s.[6] The continuation of the war created military opportunities for women, like the Women’s Army Corps and its later Navy counterpart, the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). Established in 1942 with Mildred McAfee as its commander, WAVES was a division of women who took on onshore clerical, training, and naval aviation duties.[7]
Arlene completed her basic training at Hunter College, the indoctrination Naval Training Station, and went on to serve as a Storekeeper Second Class at the Naval Landing Force Equipment Depot in San Diego.[8] As one of the Navy WAVES, she was allowed shore duty only, but her brother Gerhard’s service was overseas: he saw action as a prisoner of war in the 1942 Bataan Death March, survived, and was awarded a Silver Star.[9]
In July 1945, Arlene traveled to Omaha to marry Alfred Thorup, an Army veteran who had just finished his overseas service. Their wedding was small – Arlene’s only attendant was her sister Ella, and her only guest was her sister Mrs. Wendell Bufford. After the wedding, Arlene returned to her duties until discharged in October of the same year.[10] Once her service was complete, the married couple returned to Carroll—Alfred worked as a sheriff there, and the two started a family. In 1946, Arlene gave birth to her first son, David, who was followed in 1951 by Chris.
In 1959, the Thorups took a family vacation to visit Alfred’s brother Henry in California. The family stopped for the night at a hotel in Las Vegas, and the boys took advantage of the hotel’s pool. While playing, Chris and David collided and both drowned. Neither survived. David was 13 and Chris was 8.[11] The entirety of Carroll mourned alongside the Thorups.
In the face of enormous loss, Arlene and Alfred persevered, having three more children—Dale, Gail, and Deborah—and pursuing individual careers. Alfred continued to serve as Carroll’s sheriff; in 1972 Arlene became secretary to Carroll’s probation officer. A decade and a half later, they moved to Cañon City, Colorado, where they would live out the rest of their lives. Arlene continued to make friends and keep herself busy – her obituary lists her hobbies as “cooking, baking, walking, gardening, playing bridge, and working crossword puzzles.”[12] She traveled and camped with her family until her death in 2013. Arlene requested that no services be held, perhaps intending to remain as selfless and unobtrusive in death as she was in life. Despite drawing no attention to herself, she remained an inspiration, and a courageous, loving woman who did what needed to be done.
Footnotes ↓
[1] “ Iowa, Births and Christenings Index, 1800-1999,” Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011, https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?_phsrc=KIb308&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&qh=4DIuinFIxr6lyYialFq7Zw%3D%3D&gss=angs-g&new=1&rank=1&gsfn=Arlene&gsfn_x=0&gsln=Hamers&gsln_x=NN&msypn__ftp=utah&msbdy=1921&catbucket=rstp&MSAV=0&uidh=md5&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=375805&dbid=2547&indiv=1&ml_rpos=3.
[2] “1940 United States Federal Census,” entry for Arlene Hamers, Census Place: Carroll, Carroll, Iowa; Roll: m-t0627-01144, Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 14-6, database, accessed June 15, 2018, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.
[3] “Carroll High and Academy Typing Winners,” Carroll Daily Herald, April 25, 1938, 8, http://carroll.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=carrol%20high%20academy%20typing%20winners&i=f&by=1938&bdd=1930&d=04251938-04261938&m=between&ord=k1&fn=carroll_daily_herald_usa_iowa_carroll_19380425_english_8&df=1&dt=1.
[4] “Bride-Elect Honored by Classmates,” Carroll Daily Herald, August 3, 1939, 4, http://carroll.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=honored%20by%20classmates&i=f&by=1939&bdd=1930&d=08031939-08041939&m=between&ord=k1&fn=carroll_daily_herald_usa_iowa_carroll_19390803_english_4&df=1&dt=1.
[5] “Arlene Hamers Goes To Hunter College,” The Daily Times Herald, Carroll, Iowa, May 15, 1943), 6, http://carroll.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=arlene%20hamers&i=f&by=1943&bdd=1940&d=05151943-05161943&m=between&ord=k1&fn=carrol_times_herald_usa_iowa_carroll_19430515_english_6&df=1&dt=1.
[6] Karen Anderson, Wartime Women: Sex Roles, Family Relations, and the Status of Women during World War II (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1981).
[7] “WAVES, in Encyclopedia Britannica Online, https://www.britannica.com/topic/WAVES-United-States-naval-organization.
[8] “Iowa, World War II Bonus Case Files, 1947-1954,” entry for Arlene Hamers Thorup, case number 127735, received May 12 1949, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.
[9] “Gerhard Hamers, Dischargee, Has Long Duty Record,” Carroll (Iowa) Times Herald, January 24, 1946, 5, http://carroll.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=gerhard%20hamers&i=f&by=1946&bdd=1940&d=01241946-01251946&m=between&ord=k1&fn=carrol_times_herald_usa_iowa_carroll_19460124_english_5&df=1&dt=2.
[10] “Remember Way Back When Nineteen Forty-Five,” Carroll Daily Times Herald, July 22, 1955, 8.
[11] “Dave and Chris Thorup Drown in Nevada Pool,” Carroll Daily Times Herald, July 24, 1959,1, http://carroll.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=drown%20in%20nevada%20pool&i=f&by=1959&bdd=1950&d=07241959-07251959&m=between&ord=k1&fn=carrol_daily_times_herald_usa_iowa_carroll_19590724_english_1&df=1&dt=1.
[12] “Obituary for Arlene H. Thorup, January 29, 1921 - May 01, 2013,” ObitTree, https://obittree.com/obituary/us/colorado/canon-city/holt-family-funeral-home/arlene-thorup/1567312/index.php.
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