Grace Jean Conner, Class of 1914
Grace Jean Conner was born on May 21, 1887 near Morden, Manitoba.
She graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1914 and accepted a staff position in the operating room at Winnipeg General Hospital.
In May 1915, Grace enlisted with the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) and served from 1915 to 1919 in France and England. Nursing sister Conner served at No. 1 Canadian General Hospital, Le Treport; No. 2 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station, France; and No. 14 Canadian General Hospital, Brighton before returning to Canada in March 1919.
She married William McKenzie after the war. During her career, she lived in Peace River, Snowflake and Pilot Mound and devoted herself to the nursing profession until her retirement to Manitou in 1952. She passed away on February 7, 1974.
![[Bronze Canadian Medical Corp Pins worn by Grace Conner.]](https://hscarchives.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/2017_010_001002003_conner.jpg?w=296&resize=296%2C296&h=296#038;h=296&crop=1 "2017_010_001;002;003")
![[Telegraph sent to Grace Conner about being accepted into the Canadian Army Medical Corps, April 9, 1915.]](https://hscarchives.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/connor_grace_1914-telegram.jpg?w=296&resize=296%2C296&h=296#038;h=296&crop=1)
![[Grace Conner and husband, William R. McKenzie.]](https://hscarchives.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/connor_grace_1914-with-husband-william-r-mckenzie.jpg?w=296&resize=296%2C296&h=296#038;h=296&crop=1)
Lilian Lynch, Class of 1914
Lilian Lynch was born on June 10, 1889 in Westbourne, Manitoba.
She graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1914 and enlisted in the Canadian Army Medical Corps in February 1915.
Nursing sister Lynch served France and was posted at No. 2 Canadian General Hospital, Le Treport, France and then transferred to the No. 4 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station, where she worked alongside Lieutenant-Colonel S.W. Prowse, a physician from Winnipeg General Hospital, who was in charge of the CCS.
After the war, she moved to the United States where she worked as a private duty nurse in California and Arizona for several years.
In 1923, she returned to Canada and accepted a nursing position in Saskatchewan with the Department of Education, where she worked in the Regina Public School system.
She passed away on March 30, 1965.
Please click on the links below to read about other graduates from Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing, 1914, that served as nursing sisters during World War I.
HSC Archives/Museum 