Individual Details
Winnifred Ann Clemens
(November 19, 1917 - April 26, 2009)
Winnifred Ann Boese (Clemens), 91
San Diego, formerly of St. Cloud
Nov. 19, 1917-April 26, 2009
Winnifred Ann Boese (Wyn), 91, of San Diego, passed away peacefully on Sunday, April 26th.
Wyn was born November 19, 1917, in Fargo, North Dakota one of ten children. She attended the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota and worked with the Boy Scouts of America.
Wyn met her husband, James Booker Boese, on a blind date -- quite literally, as she declined to wear her eyeglasses that evening. He enlisted with the U.S. Army immediately prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and proposed in a letter he sent while stationed at Camp Roberts, California. They were married in St. Cloud, Minnesota in March 1943, and left immediately for Camp Roberts.
Their son, James Booker, Jr., was born in April 1944 in Paso Robles. Booker Sr., by then an officer, arrived in Europe in August 1944 and was killed in action in February 1945.
After her husbands death, Wyn and Booker, Jr. moved briefly to St. Cloud, then returned to California. Wyn worked as an X-ray technician at Scripps Hospital in La Jolla, scanning the likes of J. Edgar Hoover and Johnny Weissmuller (best known for his role as Tarzan). In the mid-1950s, she began work with the City of San Diego, including the Social Services Department and clerical work for the City Council. In her spare time, she earned a teaching credential and began part-time work teaching shorthand at San Diegos community colleges. Wyn retired from her final position with the City -- as Confidential Secretary to the City Manager in 1979. After retirement, she began her long career as a volunteer -- teaching English to ESL students, volunteering at St. Patricks parish in North Park and staffing the front desk and Intensive Care Units at Mercy Hospital. She visited Hawaii and took her first cruise. She began a several-year quest to read the entire collected works of Shakespeare. In September 1993, Wyn was featured in an article by U.S. News & World Report in connection with a trip to Europe to commemorate the 50th anniversary of D-Day. She joined the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge in a tour of the World War II battlefields where her husband had fought and died. For the first time, at the age of 76, Wyn visited the Luxembourg cemetery at Hamm where her husband was buried. She was a lifetime member of the 90th Division Association. Wyn suffered a stroke in 2003 but continued to email friends and family, and handily defeat her son and granddaughter at online "Scrabble," until very recently.
Wyn is survived by her son, James, of San Diego, sister Ruth Ure, brother William Clemens, and two extraordinarily grateful grandchildren. She joins numerous family members, including seven siblings and her husband - whom she had not seen in 64 years.
San Diego, formerly of St. Cloud
Nov. 19, 1917-April 26, 2009
Winnifred Ann Boese (Wyn), 91, of San Diego, passed away peacefully on Sunday, April 26th.
Wyn was born November 19, 1917, in Fargo, North Dakota one of ten children. She attended the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota and worked with the Boy Scouts of America.
Wyn met her husband, James Booker Boese, on a blind date -- quite literally, as she declined to wear her eyeglasses that evening. He enlisted with the U.S. Army immediately prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and proposed in a letter he sent while stationed at Camp Roberts, California. They were married in St. Cloud, Minnesota in March 1943, and left immediately for Camp Roberts.
Their son, James Booker, Jr., was born in April 1944 in Paso Robles. Booker Sr., by then an officer, arrived in Europe in August 1944 and was killed in action in February 1945.
After her husbands death, Wyn and Booker, Jr. moved briefly to St. Cloud, then returned to California. Wyn worked as an X-ray technician at Scripps Hospital in La Jolla, scanning the likes of J. Edgar Hoover and Johnny Weissmuller (best known for his role as Tarzan). In the mid-1950s, she began work with the City of San Diego, including the Social Services Department and clerical work for the City Council. In her spare time, she earned a teaching credential and began part-time work teaching shorthand at San Diegos community colleges. Wyn retired from her final position with the City -- as Confidential Secretary to the City Manager in 1979. After retirement, she began her long career as a volunteer -- teaching English to ESL students, volunteering at St. Patricks parish in North Park and staffing the front desk and Intensive Care Units at Mercy Hospital. She visited Hawaii and took her first cruise. She began a several-year quest to read the entire collected works of Shakespeare. In September 1993, Wyn was featured in an article by U.S. News & World Report in connection with a trip to Europe to commemorate the 50th anniversary of D-Day. She joined the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge in a tour of the World War II battlefields where her husband had fought and died. For the first time, at the age of 76, Wyn visited the Luxembourg cemetery at Hamm where her husband was buried. She was a lifetime member of the 90th Division Association. Wyn suffered a stroke in 2003 but continued to email friends and family, and handily defeat her son and granddaughter at online "Scrabble," until very recently.
Wyn is survived by her son, James, of San Diego, sister Ruth Ure, brother William Clemens, and two extraordinarily grateful grandchildren. She joins numerous family members, including seven siblings and her husband - whom she had not seen in 64 years.
Events
| Birth | November 19, 1917 | Fargo, ND | |||
| Death | April 26, 2009 | San Diego, CA |
Families
| Spouse | James Booker Boese (1915 - 1945) |
| Father | Pierre William Clemens (1886 - 1938) |
| Mother | Mary Edna Cline (1887 - 1982) |
| Sibling | Ruth Madeline Clemens |
| Sibling | Mary Elizabeth Clemens |
| Sibling | Pierre William Clemens (1916 - 1997) |
| Sibling | William Edward Clemens |
| Sibling | Thomas Walter Clemens (1926 - 2005) |