Helen "Bobbie" Hoza, aged 92,died on Monday, March 27, at her home in Dalzell.
Born in Garfield, New Jersey, she was the daughter of Michael and Anna Bobela who had emigrated to the U.S. before World War I from Slovakia in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire. During the Second World War she attended nursing school, graduating in 1945. Her early career as a Registered Nurse included work as an operating room nurse at Yale University Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut, where she participated in some of the earliest open-heart surgeries.
During the Korean War she worked as a surgical nurse with the rank of 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. Stationed at Williams Air Force Base in Chandler, Arizona, she met her husband, fighter pilot Paul Hoza. An Ohio native, Capt. Hoza also came from a family of Slovak immigrants. They married on Sept. 14, 1951. Air Force regulations at that time required that she resign after marriage and she received an honorable discharge. However, the Air Force did not totally lose her services as a nurse as Bobbie often worked as a volunteer nurse at base hospitals on many of the bases at which her husband was stationed in his long career. They had two children, a daughter and a son, and the family moved many times over the years. Bobbie's duties as an officer's wife became more involved as Paul went from Squadron Commander to Wing Commander. In 1970, the family moved to Spain as Paul, now a Colonel, became the Wing Commander at Zaragoza Air Base. Bobbie's representational duties at this post were significant and she carried them off with grace and style.
Col. Hoza's last assignment was to serve as Base Commander at Shaw Air Force Base. Upon his retirement, they moved into their present home in Dalzell. When Paul came down with Parkinson's with dementia in his later years, Bobbie's nursing training served her well. She was able to care for him at home for several years before the severity of his illness required that he move into a nursing home. But Bobbie was there seven days a week, making sure that he got the best possible care.
She was preceded in death by her sisters Mary Lazorchak, Ann Pavlick and Irene Lewandowski, and her brothers John Bobela, Michael Bobela and George Bobela.
Born in Garfield, New Jersey, she was the daughter of Michael and Anna Bobela who had emigrated to the U.S. before World War I from Slovakia in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire. During the Second World War she attended nursing school, graduating in 1945. Her early career as a Registered Nurse included work as an operating room nurse at Yale University Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut, where she participated in some of the earliest open-heart surgeries.
During the Korean War she worked as a surgical nurse with the rank of 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. Stationed at Williams Air Force Base in Chandler, Arizona, she met her husband, fighter pilot Paul Hoza. An Ohio native, Capt. Hoza also came from a family of Slovak immigrants. They married on Sept. 14, 1951. Air Force regulations at that time required that she resign after marriage and she received an honorable discharge. However, the Air Force did not totally lose her services as a nurse as Bobbie often worked as a volunteer nurse at base hospitals on many of the bases at which her husband was stationed in his long career. They had two children, a daughter and a son, and the family moved many times over the years. Bobbie's duties as an officer's wife became more involved as Paul went from Squadron Commander to Wing Commander. In 1970, the family moved to Spain as Paul, now a Colonel, became the Wing Commander at Zaragoza Air Base. Bobbie's representational duties at this post were significant and she carried them off with grace and style.
Col. Hoza's last assignment was to serve as Base Commander at Shaw Air Force Base. Upon his retirement, they moved into their present home in Dalzell. When Paul came down with Parkinson's with dementia in his later years, Bobbie's nursing training served her well. She was able to care for him at home for several years before the severity of his illness required that he move into a nursing home. But Bobbie was there seven days a week, making sure that he got the best possible care.
She was preceded in death by her sisters Mary Lazorchak, Ann Pavlick and Irene Lewandowski, and her brothers John Bobela, Michael Bobela and George Bobela.
Helen "Bobbie" Hoza, aged 92,died on Monday, March 27, at her home in Dalzell.
Born in Garfield, New Jersey, she was the daughter of Michael and Anna Bobela who had emigrated to the U.S. before World War I from Slovakia in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire. During the Second World War she attended nursing school, graduating in 1945. Her early career as a Registered Nurse included work as an operating room nurse at Yale University Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut, where she participated in some of the earliest open-heart surgeries.
During the Korean War she worked as a surgical nurse with the rank of 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. Stationed at Williams Air Force Base in Chandler, Arizona, she met her husband, fighter pilot Paul Hoza. An Ohio native, Capt. Hoza also came from a family of Slovak immigrants. They married on Sept. 14, 1951. Air Force regulations at that time required that she resign after marriage and she received an honorable discharge. However, the Air Force did not totally lose her services as a nurse as Bobbie often worked as a volunteer nurse at base hospitals on many of the bases at which her husband was stationed in his long career. They had two children, a daughter and a son, and the family moved many times over the years. Bobbie's duties as an officer's wife became more involved as Paul went from Squadron Commander to Wing Commander. In 1970, the family moved to Spain as Paul, now a Colonel, became the Wing Commander at Zaragoza Air Base. Bobbie's representational duties at this post were significant and she carried them off with grace and style.
Col. Hoza's last assignment was to serve as Base Commander at Shaw Air Force Base. Upon his retirement, they moved into their present home in Dalzell. When Paul came down with Parkinson's with dementia in his later years, Bobbie's nursing training served her well. She was able to care for him at home for several years before the severity of his illness required that he move into a nursing home. But Bobbie was there seven days a week, making sure that he got the best possible care.
She was preceded in death by her sisters Mary Lazorchak, Ann Pavlick and Irene Lewandowski, and her brothers John Bobela, Michael Bobela and George Bobela.
Born in Garfield, New Jersey, she was the daughter of Michael and Anna Bobela who had emigrated to the U.S. before World War I from Slovakia in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire. During the Second World War she attended nursing school, graduating in 1945. Her early career as a Registered Nurse included work as an operating room nurse at Yale University Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut, where she participated in some of the earliest open-heart surgeries.
During the Korean War she worked as a surgical nurse with the rank of 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. Stationed at Williams Air Force Base in Chandler, Arizona, she met her husband, fighter pilot Paul Hoza. An Ohio native, Capt. Hoza also came from a family of Slovak immigrants. They married on Sept. 14, 1951. Air Force regulations at that time required that she resign after marriage and she received an honorable discharge. However, the Air Force did not totally lose her services as a nurse as Bobbie often worked as a volunteer nurse at base hospitals on many of the bases at which her husband was stationed in his long career. They had two children, a daughter and a son, and the family moved many times over the years. Bobbie's duties as an officer's wife became more involved as Paul went from Squadron Commander to Wing Commander. In 1970, the family moved to Spain as Paul, now a Colonel, became the Wing Commander at Zaragoza Air Base. Bobbie's representational duties at this post were significant and she carried them off with grace and style.
Col. Hoza's last assignment was to serve as Base Commander at Shaw Air Force Base. Upon his retirement, they moved into their present home in Dalzell. When Paul came down with Parkinson's with dementia in his later years, Bobbie's nursing training served her well. She was able to care for him at home for several years before the severity of his illness required that he move into a nursing home. But Bobbie was there seven days a week, making sure that he got the best possible care.
She was preceded in death by her sisters Mary Lazorchak, Ann Pavlick and Irene Lewandowski, and her brothers John Bobela, Michael Bobela and George Bobela.
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