Adeline Thomasa Garvey was born on August 14, 1893 in Seneca, Wisconsin (Crawford County).
She graduated from St. Francis Hospital's Nursing School in La Crosse, Wisconsin in 1913. In
1917 she joined the American Red Cross as a nurse and was stationed in France (Base Hospital
No. 88, Savenay) from November 1918 to August 1919. During and post World War I, she worked as a
public health nurse in Evelith, Minnesota (1919-1922) and as a school nurse in Neenah,
Wisconsin (1923-1928). She found employment as a field nurse with the W.A.T.A. in Milwaukee
in 1928. Her work required travel to rural Wisconsin towns and inspired her to write a
number of short essays about the experiences of public health field nurses. She remained
with W.A.T.A until her retirement in 1945. On June 23 of that same year, she married Edward
Hawley, an engineer. Ada Garvey Hawley died on December 19, 1981.
