Cameron, Martha Murrah, LT COL USAF, Ret., 100 years, of Tampa, Florida, passed away August 1, 2019. She is survived by nieces, Karen Joy Considine of East Hampton, MA and Judy Joy Lewis of Gaithersburg, MD, their children Michael Ryan Lewis, Elliott Cameron Lewis and Kimberly Joy Considine.
Following graduation from Hewlett School for Girls, Cedarhurst, Long Island, NY, Class of 1936 and the baccalaureate-nursing program at Jersey City Medical Center State Teachers College, class of 1941, she served in the United Stated Army and Air Force for 23 years.
Volunteering with Pearl Harbor, and receiving orders for duty with the Army Nurse Corps in early 1942, she was soon sent to the European Theater or Operations including stations in England, Algeria, Sicily, France, Belgium and Germany.
As a member of the 128th Evacuation Hospital, First Army, 2 LT Cameron was one of the first nurses to land on Utah Beach, Normandy on D-Day + 4 and was in Belgium and Germany during the Ardennes Battle of the Bulge. Post war she served in the Philippines, Okinawa, Morocco and a variety of stateside assignments.
Decorations include American Theater of Operations, European Theater of Operations w/ 4 Battle Stars, Army of Occupation and Air Force Commendation Medal. Retirement included 20 years as a nurse anesthetist in Jacksonville, Florida and serving by gubernatorial appointment to the Florida Board of Nursing from 1992-1993.
Her thirty years of residence in Jacksonville, FL was followed by twenty-three years at Canterbury Tower in Tampa, FL. Through a close relationship with University of South Florida College of Nursing, she was made honorary Alumni of Tampa’s Gordon Keller School of Nursing. She was a member of American Association of Nurse Anesthetist (AANA) for 48 years, Society of Retired Air Force Nurses, Military Officers Association of America as well as Tampa Yacht Club and Bellaire Country & Croquet Club.
Funeral Services will be held at 10:00 am on Thursday, August 15, 2019 at The Chapel of The Pines Mausoleum in Parkhill Cemetery, 4161 Macon Road, Columbus, Georgia.
