Katherine (Klucarich) Romaine was born on March 19, 1916 in Keewatin, Minnesota. She was one of five children born in a family of Croatian background. At the age of four, Ms. Romaine's family moved to Ashland, Wisconsin where she was raised. She attended Ashland High School and was graduated in 1933. Ms. Romaine then went on to graduate from the St. Joseph School of Nursing in June 1941. She worked in St. Francis Hospital in Superior, Wisconsin for six months until she moved to the Downey Veteran's Administration (VA) Hospital in north Chicago where she applied to go into the service overseas. She was sent to Camp McCoy for training in August of 1943. She then worked at the station hospital at Camp Grant, Illinois from September, 1943, until her departure for the 101st General Hospital in Taunton, England in June of 1944. She worked there for ten months as a second lieutenant in the amputation wards and later in the orthopedic wards. In February, 1945, she was promoted to a first lieutenant. Ms. Romaine was then loaned out to various French hospitals while waiting for a Berlin hospital to be set-up for use. While stationed in Berlin she also worked as interpreter for displaced Croatians in a nearby hospital. She returned to the states in December, 1945. Following the war, Ms. Romaine moved to Santa Barbara, California for about two years and worked in a Veterans Administration Hospital. She then returned to Ashland, Wisconsin and married Thomas Romaine in 1948. The couple had four children, born in 1948, 1951, 1952, and 1959. Ms. Romaine continues to be an active volunteer for the developmentally disabled and formed the Association for Retarded Citizens in Kenosha.
