Rose Brewer grew up in Greenville, Illinois, where she was a friend of Elaine Cartmell, Stanley Hughey, and Tom Cartmell.
During WWII, she joined the Red Cross and was stationed overseas. She wrote a letter to Elaine and Stanley Hughey, which they forwarded to Tom.
After the war, she married Gordon Lindley Pickering, who was her college boyfriend, and who served throughout WWII, Korea, and Viet Nam.
The Pickerings had two children.
Letters:
Gordon Pickering’s Obituary
GLEN ROSE – Gordon Lindley Pickering, age 97, recently of Honolulu, Hawaii, passed away on June 28, 2009, in Glen Rose. He was born Feb. 18, 1912, in Junction City, Kan., to Frank Isaac Pickering and Bertha Davis Pickering. Pickeing had three younger sisters, Elizabeth, Frances, and Virginia. The family lived in San Antonio until 1926 when they were transferred to Honolulu. Pickering attended McKinley High School and worked at California Packing (Del Monte). He attended Christian College in Kansas, from 1928 to 1932, and Greenville College in Greenville, Ill. where he graduated in 1935. In 1937, when he returned to Hawaii, he landed a job with the California Packing Corporation.
Pickering joined the Army Reserve Corps in 1938 as a 2nd Lieutenant. On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, Pickering, by now living in a rented room in Manoa Valley, had just finished playing tennis, and was washing his car,when the attack on Pearl Harbor began. By December 9, he was on active duty and spent a large part of the war in the Pacific as an Ordinance Officer.
Late in 1946, Pickering married his college sweetheart, Rose Brewer. He retired from the Army Reserve Corps in 1972 as a Colonel and worked for Del Monte until retiring in 1977. He was an active member of the Methodist Church.
Pickering enjoyed good health until very late in life. He was still driving, despite entreaties from the children, until the age of 95.
He was preceded in death by his parents and by his three sisters.
Survivors include wife, Rose; son, Stephen Pickering and wife Gwen, of Honolulu; daughter, Stephany Conner and husband, Donnie, of Midlothian; grandson, Caleb and wife, Crystal, of San Angelo, Joshua Conner of Midlothian; and great grandson, Christian Conner.
Memorials may be made in the name of Gordon L. Pickering to Greenville College Advancement Office, 315 East College Avenue, Greenville, Illinois 62246.
Services were held on July 24, 2009 at 1 p.m., at National Memorial Cemetery, Punchbowl.