By Deborah Larsen
Helen Scott Mode
Helen Mary Scott Mode Hunter was born in Rochester, Michigan, on March 4, 1913, the daughter of Dr. Francis and Laura Axtell Scott. Her father was a physician in Rochester for over 20 years.
Helen was an honor student at Rochester High School and graduated with the class of 1930. She went on to earn a degree in social work from the University of Michigan and was employed as a personnel specialist at the Ford Motor Company. After a brief marriage and divorce, she left Michigan and moved on to a position at the Norfolk Naval Operations Base in Virginia.
In 1942, Helen joined the Women’s Naval Auxiliary (WAVES). She completed her training at Smith College and was then stationed at the Office of Naval Officer Procurement in Richmond, Virginia. She later served as the commander of the Richmond WAVES unit and was given the honor of serving as the aide to Admiral William D. Leahy when he visited Richmond.
Following the war, Helen remarried and had two sons. She taught in the Cabell County School System and retired in 1975 as an associate professor of education at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.
One of Helen’s sons, also named Francis, followed his grandfather’s footsteps into the field of medicine.
Helen Scott Mode Hunter died at the age of 86 on May 15, 1999, and was laid to rest in Huntington, West Virginia.
Photo credit: Loretta Schnittker