A VA Valentine: When Harry met Mary Ann

It was 1962, and Harry Rauworth was at his home in DeKalb, Ill., using his radio to talk with people all over the world. One of them was a patient at the Milwaukee hospital, a man confined to a rocking bed due to polio.

“Oh, here comes that cute nurse to feed me,” the man said to Harry. “You should meet her.”

That cute nurse was Mary Ann. She and Harry started talking via the ham radio, and then writing letters.

But after a while, the letters stopped, and it seemed the relationship had fizzled before it started.

But when a high school student reached out to Harry to test an upgrade to the ham radio system, Harry and Mary Ann began conversing again, and finally decided to meet in person.

“We had never seen each other. We had no pictures of each other,” Mary Ann said.

Harry drove to Milwaukee, meeting Mary Ann in a store parking lot before driving to meet her parents. Then it was off to Layton Place, a local dance club.

But that first date ended awkwardly.

“I told her, ‘Well, I’m not sure if I’ll ever see you again,’” Harry said, before driving off.

“But he just kept coming back,” Mary Ann said.

The two resumed their talks, and Harry found himself driving to Milwaukee more and more to take Mary Ann out dancing.

“Every time he was off (work), he was up here. We just clicked,” she said. “He was a pretty good-looking guy. I liked his eyes.”

“I thought she was pretty cute,” Harry said.

The romance blossomed, and the two became engaged.

Mary Ann had never met Harry’s parents, so they drove to DeKalb to announce their engagement. At the house, Mary Ann saw a letter addressed to Harry: It was his draft notice.

Harry was sent to Fort Hood, Texas, where his radio background served him well: He was assigned to run the communication system for the installation.

The two got married in September 1964 while Harry was on leave. Knowing she was soon to leave the Milwaukee VA, Mary Ann and her wedding party — all dressed for the ceremony — paid a visit to Mary Ann’s patients in the hospital.

“They were in my heart,” she said.

Mary Ann was able to transfer to a VA hospital in Texas to continue working as a nurse.

But within a week, the Army transferred Harry to Alexandria, Va., where he became a model maker in the Institute of Heraldry. Mary Ann transferred as well, working in a city hospital before getting back into a nearby VA hospital.

Harry served two years in the Army, and the couple returned to the Midwest, living in Gurnee, Ill., for a time, with Harry working at O’Hare and Mary Ann eventually going back to the Milwaukee VA.

Mary Ann ended up logging 33 years as a nurse at the Milwaukee VA, working mostly night shifts, which she loved.

“We had a staff on the night shift. We all did our jobs, and we all helped each other, and we all walked out in the morning,” she said. “It was just an amazing staff. We were all friends.”

Harry eventually went from O’Hare to General Electric in Milwaukee, continuing to work with electronic components. He became an expert in X-ray machinery for GE. His expertise took him around the world, repairing and teaching others how to repair X-ray mechanisms.

Sometimes Mary Ann would accompany him.

“We had a life!” Mary said, remembering trips to Egypt, England, Ireland and other countries.

In 1975, the couple built a home near Big Bend, Wis., where they still live. They had five children, and they now have 19 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

She retired in 2011. Harry now gets his care at the Milwaukee VA, though he wasn’t enrolled until after Mary retired.

Mary Ann is 80 and Harry is 81. With their 60th anniversary coming next year, the two look back fondly on their relationship.

“We’re made for each other,” Mary Ann said. “I believe the Blessed Mother brought him to me, because we wrote and then stopped completely and then he called again. I think she kept putting him in my place. We are a really good couple. We’ve had an amazing life.”