Capt Frances Martha Styles Oral History

title:

Capt Frances Martha Styles Oral History

creator:

Styles, Frances Martha (DeVos) (1927 September 1 - )

subject:

Marine Corps Women's Reserve

description:

Frances M. Styles (formerly DeVos) was born on September 1, 1927 in Tucson, Arizona. Her father passed when she was seven or eight, and after her mother remarried they moved up to the Willamette Valley in Oregon. She graduated from Monmouth High School in 1945 as valedictorian and class president. She attended Oregon College of Education then transferred to the University of Oregon, graduating with a degree in health and physical education in 1948. She worked for three years teaching health and physical education at a junior high in Albany, Oregon. She applied to the WOTC program but was refused a waiver for her vision, so someone suggested she join the Reserves because she would be accepted more easily. She ended up going to Columbia University Teachers College to get a masters degree and joined a Women Marine Reserve Unit out of Fort Schuyler, New York in 1952. After receiving her degree, she began teaching physical education and driver’s ed at the High School of Commerce in Springfield, Massachusetts and joined a Marine Reserve unit there, serving as the only woman in the unit. She applied to WOTC again after completing her masters degree, and this time she was accepted. She reported to Quantico, Virginia for training and finished it out as sixth in her commissioning class. Her first station was at the Marine Corps Recruiting Depot in San Diego, California primarily as a depot education officer. She was also the officer in charge of Women Marine Athletic Teams. The person who, unknown to her, became the basketball coach for the team eventually became her husband. Her next orders were to the 12th Reserve and Recruitment District in San Francisco, California as the procurement officer for the 12 western states in the district. After spending months recruiting women for WOTC, she was assigned to Quantico to serve as a platoon officer with the WOTC class of 1955. After marrying in Quantico in September 1955, she transferred back to San Francisco to work in the Supply Annex. There, she was the officer-in-charge of Women Marines, classified materials officer, and once again in charge of Women Marine Athletics. She was discharged in 1958 because she had become pregnant, which barred women from staying in the service at the time. Her husband remained in the Marines, serving mostly in California with a few stints in Korea, Vietnam, and South Carolina in-between. She worked as a substitute teacher for some time before getting hired full time in 1974 as a physical education teacher, which she did at Francis W. Parker School for 20 years. In retirement, she still volunteered with many different athletics-focused programs for children, adults, and elders. When she left the service Styles had reached the rank of captain, and for her service she was awarded a National Defense Service Medal. No transcript of this interview is currently available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Wilson, Eleanor M.

date:

2004-02-26

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

905; 2004.905

source:

MCHC | CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

495648

coverage:

Korean War (1950-1953) | 1952-58

rights:

Unrestricted