Former Stillwater resident and World War II nurse Doris L. Noonan was the first woman recognized as part of Saratoga County’s longstanding Honor Our Deceased Veterans Program. The ceremony was held on Oct. 18, at the County Office Building in Ballston Spa.

• Click here to view a program from the ceremony

Noonan, who died in 2006 at the age of 85, is a former longtime resident of Colonial Road. Born in Mechanicville, April 3, 1921, she attended Mechanicville High School and graduated from Saratoga Springs High School in 1939. She graduated from the registered nursing school at the Charles S. Wilson Memorial Hospital, Johnson City, N.Y. in 1942.

Noonan entered the U.S. Army Nurses Corps serving from 1943-46, receiving five Battle Ribbons. She served in northern Africa, Corsica, Sardinia, the Po Valley in Italy, southern France and at World War II’s end was assigned to the 170th Evac Hospital in Manila, Philippines earning the rank of 1st lieutenant.

After her discharge, Noonan began her long career in nursing while at the same time she taught and mentored many nurses for years at the former Leonard Hospital in Troy and Mary McClellan School of Nursing in Cambridge, N.Y. retiring in 1977.

She was a faithful member of St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church in Stillwater, and served as a Eucharistic minister and belonged to the Rosary Society.

Noonan was nominated for this honor by Stillwater Village Historian Linda Sanders, and was recognized at the ceremony by Town Supervisor Ed Kinowski.

Saratoga County, through the Veterans’ Service Agency, has honored more than 300 veterans at the monthly Honor Deceased Veterans Ceremony.  The ceremony has become a tradition in Saratoga County, and includes participation from elected officials at all levels of government, as well as local veterans organizations and supporters. The Honoring Our Deceased Veterans Program recognizes a veteran from a different town and city in Saratoga County each month.