Life Starts Again For 100-Year-Old Veteran

by Chuck N. Baker 

(Sparks) – Carol “Connie" McGee basks in the knowledge that she is the first individual to have called the Northern Nevada State Veterans Home her current residence. Having moved in at the home’s opening, the proud 100-year-young veteran served during WWII as a Stateside nurse in the U.S. Navy.  

Her new start in life at the veterans home commenced when the home itself initiated its own new beginning, accepting a limited number of first-time residents as part of a lengthy accreditation process. It’s a state-of-the-art skilled nursing care facility, but it still had to go through a rigorous program of reviews and inspections. The home has since demonstrated to State and federal regulatory agencies its professional ability to care for its residents, who are military veterans or military spouses. In McGee’s case, she happens to be both. In yet another distinction in her arsenal of surprises, her late husband John Barton McGee, was also a veteran, having served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. In fact, she met him while in the service. 

McGee’s daughter, Holly McGee, explained that although her mom achieved her goals of graduating as a nurse and joining the military, there was one plateau she never reached. “She wanted to serve overseas in the Navy,” Holly McGee said. “But she had just graduated from nursing school, and she thinks the Navy wanted more experienced nurses to be assigned to Europe. So she was kept domestic.” But keeping her Stateside at Cambridge, Maryland, may have been a more fortuitous decision. “She met her husband (Holly’s dad) in the service. He was a Navy pilot serving in the Marine Corps. He broke his leg, and mom took care of him.” When the war ended in 1945, they were both discharged. “It was a very quick process. They both had only two weeks to get out of Dodge.”  

Her husband’s home was in Reno, so that’s where they moved to. “Dad opened an auto repair shop. But when the Korean War began he reenlisted, serving in Florida and then Texas.” Like Carol, he never had a chance to serve overseas. When he was finally discharged he became a commercial pilot with American Airlines. He passed away in 2006.  

Carol and her husband had two daughters and a son, and while he worked in the repair shop or flew in the military and as a civilian, she stayed home to raise the family. Today she can boast of having five grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. “She had many friends from her military days, but she’s outlived them, all,” her daughter explained. 

Mike Ball, the administrator at the Northern Nevada Veterans Home, said it’s a joy having her there, and the other staff members feel the same way. “She is a very resilient, beautiful lady. She always has a smile on her face and the staff just loves her,” he said. And being a venerable senior citizen at 100, her intestinal fortitude is as strong as ever. “Recently, she was the first resident here at the home to be diagnosed with COVID-19,” Ball said. “And then she was the first one to recover!” Her daughter explained that when she was initially diagnosed, she was transferred to the local VA hospital. “They said she had very mild symptoms, and she was not sick enough to be at the hospital. So they sent her back to the home. She was considered to have been recovered.”  

There is no particular specific health reason that can be cited for her having hit the century mark. But her daughter said, “Genetics have played a role. She’s always been a very devout Christian, that’s very special in her life. She’s never been athletic, or eaten a lot of health food. She only drank alcohol once on VJ Day, and got sicker than a dog. And that was the end of that.”  

Because visits to the home are not currently allowed due to the pandemic, her daughter and other family members can only make window visits. Ball added that prior to the virus, “Holly was very involved with her mom, and with visits to the home. It’s just a beautiful family all around.”  

The 96-bed skilled-nursing care facility offers the highest level of care serving veterans, their spouses and Gold Star parents. Each resident has a private room and shares a den, living room and kitchen with 15 other residents. For some people, living for 10 decades might seem like an eternity. But for Carol McGee, many believe that she’s just starting out to enjoy life in her second century. 

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