Clara Houtz Lawson

Birthplace: Abilene, KS

Branch of Service: WAVES

Unit: Wave Quarter D and I in Washington DC

Theater of Operation: American

Enlisted / Commissioned: Jan 1, 1943

Discharged: Nov 19, 1945

Highest Rank: Seaman 2nd Class

Honored By: American Legion Post #180 of Hebron, NE

Clara Houtz was born in Abilene, KS in 1913. She attended Talmage schools through High School. In 1933 she joined Job-Seekers and went to Denver to work for a Jewish Family for $5.00 a week plus room and board. Bettering herself she eventually worked as a maid, in invalid care, a family bakery, a commercial bakery and the Denver munitions plant. Clara joined the U.S. Navy Waves in 1943. After boot camp in Hunters College she was stationed at Wave Quarters D and I in Washington D. C. where she made pastries for the Pentagon. She was discharged as a Baker Second Class. Clara went back to Colorado and received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1950. She served for the Nebraska Cooperative Extension Service for 28 years. She married Clarence Lawson in 1969 and had tree step sons and one step daughter. Clara departed this life in June 2013 at age 99.