Rosie the Riveter Sue Crittenden Celebrates Her 102nd Birthday!
Chelsea Retirement Community (CRC) resident Sue Ford Allen Crittenden recently celebrated her 102nd birthday with a party at CRC’s Dancey House, surrounded by her many friends and family. She also received a surprise visit from State Senator Sue Shink (14th District) who brought a State of Michigan Special Tribute, honoring and thanking Sue Crittenden for her service during World War II as a Rosie the Riveter. The tribute was signed by Senator Shink, along with State Representative Kathy Schmaltz (46th District), Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II, and Governor Gretchen Whitmer. A flag was flown at the Michigan State Capitol on August 28, Sue’s birthday, to honor her as well.
Born in 1923, Sue grew up in the western tip of North Carolina, bordering Georgia and Tennessee. She graduated high school in 1942 and started college at Young Harris College in Georgia. The war had begun, and three of her brothers joined three different branches of the service.
“At that time, they were looking for women to go to the NYA School (National Youth Administration, a program of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal) in Asheville, North Carolina. I talked my dad into letting me quit college and enroll in this school.”
At NYA School, Sue learned to use lathes, milling machines, and more, passing all her classes. Sue got a job at a torpedo plant in Alexandria, Virginia, affiliated with the Washington Navy Yard. It was Sue’s first train ride, traveling from Asheville to Washington, D.C.!
Sue made torpedo parts, including “thousands and thousands of rudder blades” that started with a piece of steel. Sue remembers there were three shifts at the plant and each month they would alternate shifts.
Sue enjoyed her four years working at the torpedo plant and exploring Washington, D.C. in her free time, including all the museums and botanical gardens. She and her friends would also rent bikes and ride to Mount Vernon, since there were very few cars on the road in those days. “I loved every bit of it!” says Sue.
Her boyfriend, Charles Allen, served primarily in the South Pacific during World War II, but when he was sent to the Washington Navy Yard for more instruction in 1944, they decided to get married. Just two days later, he was shipped back to the South Pacific, returning home after 13 months when the war had ended.
Sue has fond memories of this time in her life. She also has a torpedo charm that someone at the plant made for all the women.
Sue and Charles had two sons and, in 1950, they moved to Michigan where Charles worked for American Airlines at Willow Run Airport. Charles passed away when he was just 40 of a brain aneurism. Sue remarried in 1973 to Bernard Crittenden, whose wife had passed away when his two daughters were young. Today, Sue lives at Chelsea Retirement Community, and she has ten grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.
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