Agry, Ann

Description

Ann Agry was born on June 11, 1918, in Evanston, Illinois, to Marion Augusta Stutson and Warren Cram Agry. Both of Ann’s parents had a college education and were born in Massachusetts. Ann was a middle child, with older sister Marian and younger brother Warren Agry. By 1930, the family had moved to Rye, NY and lived at 376 Hidden Spring Lane and were members of the Presbyterian Church.

Ann attended Greenwich Academy and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bennington College in 1940.
Before entering service she was an assistant buyer for R. H. Macy & Co., New York.

Ann enlisted January 8, 1943 and served as an officer in the U.S. Navy WAVES during World War II.

The WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) was the women’s branch of the United States Naval Reserve, established during World War II on July 30, 1942. Created to “release a man to fight at sea,” the program allowed women to serve in shore-based roles to free up male personnel for combat duty

Rye Girls Receive Commissions As Ensigns in W. A. V. E. S.

Miss Ann Agry, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Warren C. Agry of Rye Ridge Road, and Miss Sally Goedecke, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Milton Goedecke, Hillcrest Lane, received commissions as ensigns in the
W. A. V. E. S United States Naval Reserve (Women’s Reserve). at Northampton, Mass. , on Friday. They will report for active duty on Monday Ensign Goedecke in Boston and Ensign Agry in New York. These young women formed the apprentice seamen group to enter the school at Smith College in October and are the first class of Midshipmen to graduate. Ensign Agry is a graduate of Bennington College, Ensign Goedecke is a Smith College graduate. They and several other W. A. V. E. S. are skiing at Manchester, Vermont, for a few days.

Friday, January 15,1943 THE RYE CHRONICLE PACE FIVE

WAVES served at over 900 shore stations across the continental U.S. and eventually in Hawaii, Alaska, and the Caribbean.
Common Jobs: Clerical and administrative work, storekeeping, and hospital corps.

They also served in technical roles, including: Aviation mechanics, air traffic controllers, weather forecasters (aerographers), cryptographers, and parachute riggers. Enlisted recruits typically trained at Hunter College in the Bronx, while officer candidates trained at Smith College in Massachusetts.

Although initially intended only for the wartime “emergency,” the success of the WAVES led to the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act of 1948, which allowed women to serve as permanent, regular members of the U.S. military. The term “WAVES” continued in official and popular use until the 1970s.

Ann received her honorable discharge September 22, 1945.

She married James J Darling on December 4, 1951, at the Drake Hotel in Chicago, IL. and they would have one child.

Ann was a resident of Thetford Hill, VT, where she and her husband moved in 1974 from Washington, D.C. Prior to Washington, she had lived in Wilton, Conn., New York City and Rye, N.Y.

Ann was a former vice president of Bennington College alumnae association. She was a trustee of the Thetford Library, a member of the League of Women Voters and had recently been elected a director of Friends of Hopkins Center. In Washington and later in Vermont, she was an active volunteer for Common Cause.

Mary Ann Agry Darling, 59, died April 21, 1978, at the. Hitchcock Memorial Hospital in Hanover, NH.

At the time of her death, she was survived by her husband, James J.
Darling; a son, Roger E. Darling; her mother, Mrs. Warren C. Agry of Stamford, Conn.; a sister, Mrs. Robert Berson of Baltimore, Md.; and a brother, Warren C.
Agry of Atlanta, Ga.

Memorial Services were held at the Rye Presbyterian Chapel.