Evelyn Abernethy was like a lot of young women back in early December 1941. She had a nickname – Evie – had recently graduated from junior college, and was madly in love.
Her mom had died recently and, at barely 22 years old, Evie was living at home in Michigan with her father.
Her “gang” – as her friends referred to themselves – were getting together on the evening of Dec. 7 to listen to a favorite radio drama…a Sunday night tradition.
That night turned out to be something drastically different. No one could speak of anything but Pearl Harbor and, by the end of the evening the guys – including Evie’s fella, Bud Limberg – had pledged to enlist the next morning.
Bud joined the Navy, and from there the young couple’s lives were on a sudden collision course with the calendar.
Their engagement was announced on December 17 in the Port Huron Times Herald. They were married on January 3, 1942 and, after a brief honeymoon, he was off to the South Pacific.
The young newlyweds didn’t see each other again for four painfully long years. She wrote him every day.
Evie worked with her dad in his plumbing business and donated many evenings at Port Huron Hospital.
She never saw her contribution to the home front as anything special. That’s the thing about her generation. They were willing to step up and do what needed to be done.
Nonetheless, breaking new ground is seldom easy. Looking back, Evie and Bud agreed those four years felt like four lifetimes.
Evie subsequently gave birth to three children and helped Bud start a business. They sent their children off to college and retired to Florida. Evie died in 2000 and Bud followed her in 2008, leaving behind many of the WWII love letters she’d written him.
Photos
Evie’s Graduation Evie and Bud (Clarence), meeting in Chicago after his return to the United States
Generously provided by the family of Evelyn Abernethy