In his memoir, Elmer wrote that after losing his first wife, Lile, he didn’t think he’d ever marry again. That was before he met Col. Mary Louise Milligan, national director of the Women’s Army Corps, a woman who challenged convention and one of the first two women awarded an honorary doctorate from what’s now Carnegie-Mellon University. They met in 1960 and married the next year.

Mary Louise was an assistant principal outside of Pittsburg when World War II erupted. With two brothers going into military service, she felt called to do the same and enlisted in the corps. In 1957, after four years as an Army adviser in Europe, she was appointed WAC director by President Dwight Eisenhower, and extended by President John. F. Kennedy. A lifetime member of the NAACP, her many honors include a Legion of Merit award for her work integrating women of color into the corps. She was also affiliated with Alaska Native Sisterhood.

Mary Louise helped expand the Rasmuson family’s philanthropy and was a leader in establishing the Anchorage Museum. She served on the Foundation board for 45 years.

A new, statewide women veterans’ project is named in her honor. Operation Mary Louise focuses on sharing community-based resources, building connections and creating opportunities for women in the military, women whose service is often overlooked.

New York Times obituary: Mary Louise Rasmuson died in 2012 at age 101.

Anchorage Daily News obituary: Alaska philanthropist Mary Louise Rasmuson dies.