Ramona Therese McCormick, 100, died peacefully Sept. 22, 2021, at home in Jacksonville Beach, Fla., surrounded by loved ones. She was the wife of the late Bernard H. McCormick Sr. for 45 years. Born in Chicago, Ill., she was the daughter of the late Francis P. Music and Anna Stefanski Music.

Growing up on Mozart Street in Chicago, she was a member of an all-female swing band and played the drums in the 1930s.

She graduated from nursing school at Loyola University in Chicago, and then served with distinction in the United States Army as a 1st Lieutenant for the 56th Evacuation Hospital during World War II. She received four battlefield stars serving in Northern Africa, Salerno and on the beachhead in the Battle of Anzio. She was treasurer and president of the Anzio Beachhead Veterans Organization. She returned to Anzio several times. She was an operating room nurse as well as a nurse anesthetist during World War II.

After the war, she was a member of the Macungie Ambulance Corps and the Macungie VFW.

She visited the White House many times in honor of her war efforts in Anzio during World War II.

She and her husband raised their seven children in Lima, Ohio and Macungie, moving there in the early 1950s.

She was a loved and cherished musician playing piano, accordion and the drums and throughout her life you would find her often singing songs with her children and grandchildren and teaching them instruments. She was well known in Macungie for whistling her family home from the playground for dinner.

She was known for her homemade bread, jelly and kielbasa. She made beautiful quilts and was an avid sports fan, especially football. She enjoyed traveling with her husband and children around the country and later around the world.

She worked for many years as an operating room nurse and assistant supervisor at Sacred Heart and Allentown hospitals and in 1995 she retired to Jacksonville Beach, Fla. where she continued participating in charitable community services.

Her strong Catholic faith was reflected in all that she did and guided her throughout her life.

She is survived by sons, Thomas and his wife, Dr. Mary O’Connor, of Jacksonville Beach, Fla.; Daniel and his wife, Mary Ellen, of Forty Fort; Timothy, of Australia; William and his wife, Claire, of Lower Gwynedd; 14 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by siblings, Rita Larkin, Anna Smale and Marcelene Leibert; sons, Bernard H. Jr. and Robert F., a daughter, Marie T.

Contributions may be made to a charity of your choice in her name.

Burial services will be held Oct. 8 following the 10 a.m. Rosary at the Schantz Funeral Home, P.C., Emmaus.