She was singing weekly at the Turtle Creek 21 club at this time.

taken in the mid 1940's

In this 1944 photo, Nadine Hummel prepares to sing at launching ceremonies for the Silvestre Escalante, a U.S. Merchant Marine ship that was headed for service in the Pacific. While working at Kaiser Shipyards in California with other "Rosie the Riveters" of the World War II era, Hummel sang at the launchings of several ships. (Published in the Tulsa World on Oct. 14, 2010)

Wartime welder turned to fashion

An original "Rosie the Riveter," she also sang at the ships' launchings.

Deciding between a welder's torch and a rivet gun didn't take Nadine Hummel nearly as long as her accessory choices typically took.


The fashionable 18-year-old made her decision quickly and then stuck with it.

Hair pinned back to keep it safe from stray sparks, Hummel spent more than two years inside the deep, dark hulls of ships, welding bulkhead seams.

"They were long, exhausting, hot days," her daughter, Deenie Hummel, said. "But there was a great camaraderie between the women. Many of them were there while their husbands were overseas for the war, and they became very close."

Nadine Hummel - best known to Tulsans for her longtime consignment store, the Re-Finery - remembered her "Rosie the Riveter" days fondly, her daughter added.

As a "Rosie," Hummel had worked at the Kaiser Shipyards near San Francisco. Unmarried at the time, she started the job in 1942 after moving from her native Illinois.

The largest and most productive shipmaking facility of World War II, the site is now home to what became the first monument commemorating women's contributions on the war's homefront.

Hummel's story and photos have been added to collections there, along with those of other women, and plans are moving forward to establish a National Historical Park at the site.

Nadine V. Hummel died Saturday. She was 85. A service was held Wednesday at RiverCrest Chapel in Bixby under the direction of Bixby Funeral Service.

Deenie Hummel, who recorded
her mother's memories for the memorial project, said her mother worked on several warships during her time at the shipyards, in the Bay Area community of Richmond, Calif.

Despite being just 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighing 100 pounds, Hummel didn't shy away from hard labor. Apprenticed to an older welder, she learned quickly.

When the ships on which she had worked departed for war-related service in the Pacific, Hummel was on hand for launching ceremonies.

Those festive occasions also served to launch the next phase of her working life, her daughter said.

Hummel's father, a musician, had his own trio, and as a girl, Hummel had sung with them.

At the encouragement of her shipyard co-workers, she began singing during lunch breaks.

That led to a request to sing at the ship launchings.

After more than two years at the shipyards, Hummel left for New York with a group of big-band musicians who had dreams of making it big.

She traveled for years with the orchestra and later sang in Las Vegas.

By the time she and her family moved to Tulsa in 1973, she had put her singing days behind her, however.

Together with her daughter, Hummel opened the Re-Finery. The high-end resale store specialized in clothing by big-name designers.

"Mom always loved quality clothes and had expensive tastes," Deenie Hummel said. "The store was really the perfect fit for her."

After 18 years, Hummel retired in 1990. Her daughter continued running the store for seven more years before she closed it.

Hummel's husband of 51 years, Jack Hummel, died in 1998.

Hummel is survived by one son, Jack Hummel; one daughter, Deenie Hummel; two grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
(Tulsa World, Tim Stanley, Writer, Oct. 14, 2010)