Collection finding aid (offsite)
Jerry Rita Jolliff Brunton (b. 1931), of Marysville, Ohio, served as a PBX (Private Branch Exchange) Switchboard Operator in the Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service) from 1950-1951. Jerry Rita Jolliff Brunton was born 22 April 1931 in Union County, Ohio. She graduated from high school in 1949, and enlisted in the Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service) in 1950, first as a reservist for six months and then transferred as active duty. Brunton attended basic training at Naval Air Station Columbus in Ohio, and then was assigned to the same base for her first duty station. Her primary responsibility was in communications, working as a PBX (Private Branch Exchange) Switchboard Operator. Brunton met her husband at the naval air station and they were married in 1951. She soon became pregnant and was forced to resign from the WAVES. Brunton's husband was assigned to Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Kansas, where they relocated, and she had her first son in 1952. In 1987, Brunton received her nursing degree from Northeast Alabama Community College, and was certified as a holistic nurse in the following years. In January 2011, Brunton helped organize Women Veterans of Coastal North Carolina, a group dedicated to bringing together women military veterans and active duty women in all branches of the United States Armed Forces. She is also a lifetime member of WAVES National, Unit#144 Raleigh.