Liz Richardson
{{short description|Red Cross Clubmobiler}}
{{use American English|date=December 2022}}
{{use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Elizabeth Richardson
| image = Liz Richardson.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name = Elizabeth Ann Richardson
| birth_date = {{birth date|1918|06|08}}{{r|M&D}}
| birth_place = Akron, Ohio, United States{{r|M&D}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1945|07|25|1918|06|08}}{{r|M&D}}
| death_place = Rouen, France{{r|WLW}}
| death_cause = crashed in an L-4 Grasshopper{{r|M&D}}
| burial_place = Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial grave A-21-5{{r|M&D}}
| burial_coordinates = {{coord|49.360278|-0.857222|type:landmark_region:FR|display=inline}}
| education = Mishawaka High School{{r|WLW}}
| alma_mater = Milwaukee-Downer College{{r|WLW}}
| occupation = advertising{{r|WLW}}
| organization = American Red Cross{{r|WLW}}
| known_for =
| height =
| parents = Charles Richardson{{r|SDB|p=1}}
Henrietta Mehlbach{{r|SDB|p=1}}
| awards = American Red Cross medal{{r|M&D}}
}}
Elizabeth Ann Richardson (8 June 1918 – 25 July 1945) was a volunteer for the American Red Cross during World War II known for being one of the four women buried at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial.
Early life
Richardson was born in Akron, Ohio on June 8, 1918, to Charles Monroe Richardson and Henrietta M. Mehlbach and raised in Mishawaka, Indiana.{{Cite web |title=Who Was Liz |url=https://www2.lawrence.edu/library/archives/richardson/who_was_liz_richardson.htm |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=www2.lawrence.edu}}{{Cite web |title=Elizabeth Ann Richardson : from Indiana, World War II Casualty |url=https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=588294 |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=www.honorstates.org}} She attended Milwaukee-Downer College in 1936 specializing in Art and English. After college, she worked at the Boston Store (Wisconsin-based department store) and Gimbels before gaining a position in the advertisement department at Schuster's. She joined the Red Cross in July 1944.
World War II Red Cross Service
Richardson served in a Clubmobile serving coffee and doughnuts to US troops during the Allied Liberation of France in the Second World War. Richardson was promoted to the Captain of her unit.{{Cite web |title=The Red Cross Year |url=https://www2.lawrence.edu/library/archives/richardson/red_cross_year.htm |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=www2.lawrence.edu}} She was killed in a Piper Cub plane crash near Rouen{{cite journal |last1=Gritz |first1=Jennie Rothenberg |title=Message Received |journal=Smithsonian |issue=March 2023 |page=47}} when flying to Paris on July 25, 1945, and is now one of the four women to be buried in the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial.{{r|LU|M&D|SDB|WLW}} The three other women honored with burials there, were Mary H. Bankston, Mary Jewel Barlow and Dolores Mercedes Browne, African American women who had served in the Army's unique 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion and been killed in a Jeep accident.
References
{{reflist |refs=
{{citation |url=https://blogs.lawrence.edu/library-archives/2008/10/elizabeth_richardson_exhibit.html |title=Elizabeth Richardson Exhibit |publisher=Lawrence University |date=1 October 2008 |author=Julia Stringfellow}}
}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:American Red Cross personnel
Category:American women civilians in World War II
Category:Milwaukee-Downer College alumni
Category:People from Akron, Ohio
Category:People from Mishawaka, Indiana
Category:American civilians killed in World War II
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