Pittsfield City Hall Will Unveil Portrait of Lt. Haggerty
Lt. Margaret H. Haggerty at the rededication of the war memorial in Pittsfield in 2010 at age 100. The city is honoring the late Army veteran with a portrait at City Hall. |
Until her death on April 1, 2011, at the age of 101, Haggerty was the longest living female officer veteran in the state. The event is sponsored by the Here at Home Committee in partnership with City Hall. The public is invited to attend.
"This portrait will hang proudly in City Hall as a reminder and tribute to an extraordinary person from the Greatest Generation," said Rosanne M. Frieri, director of Veterans Services for the city. "Lt. Haggerty served her country at a time when going into the armed forces was not popular among women. When I asked her why she joined the Army, she said 'I had a skill as a nurse and it was the right thing to do.' Lt. Haggerty was a wonderful soldier and friend to our community."
Haggerty graduated from the former St. Luke's School of Nursing and later earned a bachelor's degree in education at St. Johns University in Brooklyn, N.Y. She worked at the former St. Luke's Hospital until enlisting in the Army Nurse Corps, serving from 1942 to 1946 in the United States, North Africa and Italy.
Tags: memorial, veterans, WWII,
