Rest in Peace, Rosie — And Thank You
Jeanne Gibson was 18 years old. She was in nursing school. Then she put down her books and picked up a welding torch.
That was 1944. Her country needed ships. So she left Minnesota, moved to Seattle, and went to work at Todd Pacific Shipyards.
She welded Navy destroyers. On swing shifts. At 18.
She was a Rosie.
You know the picture. Red bandana. Rolled-up sleeve. “We Can Do It!”
Jeanne passed away on July 29 at the age of 100. She was one of the last Rosies we had left.
She didn’t stop at 18
Here’s the part we love.
The war ended. Most folks would call that a full life and sit down.
Not Jeanne.
She served in Alaska with the Army Transportation Corps. Then she went back to school and earned her Ph.D. She taught for 30 years. She got her pilot’s license.
And in her 90s? She still showed up. She volunteered at the Rosie the Riveter park in Richmond, California, on “Rosie Fridays.” She told her story to school kids. She told young girls they could do anything they set their minds to.
In 2024, the Rosies were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. Days before Jeanne died, her park hung a Wall of Honor banner in her name.
She earned every bit of it.
Women's Work Coveralls from 1940s. Rosie the Riveter era. Women took roles in factory jobs including John Deere during World War II. John Deere Tractor and Engine Museum in Waterloo, Iowa.
Three things Rosie still teaches us
1. Learn one new skill. Jeanne learned to weld in a few weeks flat. You can learn to shut off your water main, start a fire in the rain, or can green beans. Pick one. Learn it this month.
2. Mend it before you replace it. Her whole generation patched, saved, and made do. Try it once. The habit sticks.
3. Start before you feel ready. Jeanne had zero experience. She showed up anyway. Same goes for your first shelf of stored food or your first jug of clean water.
That’s the Rosie spirit. Not fear. Not panic. Grit.
Now it’s your turn
We shared Jeanne’s story on our Facebook page and it lit up. Dozens of you wrote in with your own memories.
So we’ll ask you here too.
Did you know a Rosie? A mom, a grandma, an aunt, a neighbor down the street? Tell us her name and what she did. Leave it in the comments. We read every one.
Rest in peace, Jeanne. And thank you.
To your survival,
Frank Bates
A fun fact most folks miss
That famous poster almost never happened.
“We Can Do It!” was printed in 1943 for one factory. It hung on the wall about two weeks. Then it sat forgotten for 40 years before it came back in the 1980s.
The women were real long before the poster was famous. Around 6 million of them went to work.