Coast Guard to celebrate 80th SPARS anniversary at Houston event

HOUSTON — The Coast Guard is slated to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Coast Guard SPARS and the establishment of a local chapter of the Coast Guard Women’s Leadership Initiative during a ceremony in Houston, Friday.
Coast Guard Rear Adm. Carola List, assistant commandant for Engineering & Logistics, will serve as guest speaker during the ceremony.
Shirley Reagor, 102-year-old original...
Coast Guard Academy hosts SPARs birthday celebration

Reworked Illustator Graphic By CWO Scott Epperson
NEW LONDON, Conn. — The Coast Guard Academy celebrated the 101st birthday celebration of Chief Petty Officer Mary Stewart, a veteran of the Coast Guard Semper Paratus Always Ready Women’s Reserves (SPARs), at the Cmdr. Merle J. Smith Consolidated Club, Friday, June 24.
From 1943 to 1946 Stewart served as a yeoman in the SPARs. The first two years...
Coast Guard honors SPAR veteran at 100th birthday celebration

Jeanne Yoder. a Coast Guard SPAR (Semper Paratus Always Ready) veteran, smiles during her birthday celebration in Sequim, Washington, May 7, 2022. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Diolanda Caballero)
SEQUIM, WA – A woman’s uniform sits on display at the Coast Guard Museum Northwest in Seattle. The delicate uniform was issued during World War II and tells the story of the...
Coast Guard Academy Women’s Basketball team to honor SPARs legacy

NEW LONDON, Conn. — The U.S. Coast Guard Academy will honor the legacy of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Women’s Reserve, also known as the “Semper Paratus, Always Ready” (SPARs) during the inaugural SPARs basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022 at 1p.m.
The origin of the SPARs dates back to 1942, when legislation was passed and subsequently created the Women’s Reserve. This new arm of the Coast...
Funeral services held for first African-American woman to serve in U.S. Coast Guard

U.S. Coast Guard members participate in funeral services for Dr. Olivia Hooker in White Plains, New York, Dec. 5, 2018. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Steve Strohmaier)
NEW YORK — Funeral services were held for the first African-American woman to serve in the U.S Coast Guard Wednesday, at White Plains Rural Cemetery, White Plains, N.Y.
Dr. Olivia Juliette Hooker was born on...
Funeral Services in Ithaca, NY for Coast Guard SPAR, World War II hero

Florence Ebersole Smith Finch (1915-2016)(U.S. Coast Guard photo)
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The U. S. Coast Guard will render full honors for a World War II hero who also served in the Coast Guard Women’s Reserve, more commonly known as SPARs, Saturday.
Funeral services are being held for Florence Ebersole Smith Finch Saturday at 11 a.m. at Pleasant Grove Cemetery, Ithaca, New York.
Ebersole Smith Finch...
Coast Guard honors the passing of a trailblazer

Members of the Coast Guard Ceremonial Honor Guard carry the casket of Dorothy Kurtz, member of the Coast Guard Women’s Reserve also known as Semper Paratus Always Ready, to her final resting place Monday, Sept. 19, 2016 at Venice Memorial Gardens, Venice, Florida. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Michael De Nyse
Dorothy E. Kurtz, Nov. 8, 1922 – Sept. 12, 2016
By Petty Officer...
Coast Guard to honor Dr. Olivia Hooker in historic building renaming ceremony

Dr. Olivia Hooker addresses an audience at a Women’s History Month celebration in Manhattan’s Federal Hall on Wednesday, March 30, 2011. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Thomas McKenzie
NEW YORK – Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft is scheduled to preside over a ceremony to officially rename the Coast Guard Sector New York Galley in honor Dr. Olivia Hooker,...
The Legend of the Heroes Mother

On September 27, 1999, Admiral Paul Blayney, commander of the 13th Coast Guard District, spoke at the Douglas Munro Memorial and Flag Pole Dedication conducted at Cle Elum, Washington. The following is an edited portion of his remarks.
Voltaire once said, “I know of no great person, except those who have rendered great service…” I would like to share a unique and rarely told story...