Mary Willie Arvin

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Mary Willie Arvin, known as Mary, was born April 21, 1879, in Henderson, Kentucky. She trained as a nurse at Owensboro City Hospital School of Nursing, graduating in 1904, and later worked in Memphis, Tennessee.

In June 1917, Arvin joined the American Red Cross and was assigned to the Harvard Unit, Base Hospital No. 5, which supported the British in France. She arrived in Pas-de-Calais in July 1917. On September 4, 1917, Base Hospital No. 5 was bombed by German planes, and Arvin cared for the wounded that night. A second bombing struck on June 30, 1918, near the hospital.

For her service, she received commendations from General John Pershing and the French Croix de Guerre. On November 13, 1919, she was awarded the British Royal Red Cross (2nd Associate) Medal by Prince Edward. She also received the U.S. Army citation for exceptionally meritorious and conspicuous service, which was later exchanged for the Purple Heart.

After the war, Arvin returned to Henderson by March 1919. In October 1919, she began working as a Red Cross welfare worker in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. She later moved to Orlando, Florida, where she worked as a nurse. On March 28, 1925, she married William H. Tiller, a World War I veteran and Orlando realtor. After his death, she married Robert H. Sissons in 1932.

Mary Arvin died September 9, 1947, in Henderson and was buried in Fernwood Cemetery. A Kentucky historical marker near her grave was placed in 2010. In 2006, she was honored as part of Kentucky Women Remembered, and her portrait hangs in the Kentucky State Capitol Rotunda.