TIDMORE-ROBERTA

Born in 1922, Roberta Jane Randolph grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  When World War II began, she moved to Rockford, Illinois, where she was employed in an assembly plant as a “Rosie the Riveter” working on the production of airplane parts.  In January 1944 she changed direction by joining the Marine Corps and went through boot camp training at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.  Her initial assignment was as a chauffeur for military officers, transporting them from Quantico in Northern Virginia, to Washington, D.C.  After only a month in this assignment she requested a job driving a garbage truck, hardly a glamorous assignment.  However, this assignment ended abruptly when she mistakenly crossed in front of a general’s automobile with her trash truck which terminated the assignment.  As she loved driving, she filled a variety of assignments and soon found herself assigned to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego where she picked up baggage and delivered it to the base.  Later she was assigned to driving in San Francisco.  Following the end of World War II, Randolph was discharged in August 1946 having attained the rank of sergeant.  This did not terminate her link to the Marine Corps as she was a long-time loyal member of the Women’s Marine Association, serving as its president for a brief period in the 1970s.

Following her active military service, Randolph became a flight attendant, then Chief Stewardess, and finally as a Chief Supervisor for United Airline.  In 1960 after 15-years, she left United Airlines to get married and begin a completely new life.  With her new husband they farmed tomatoes in Southern California until his death in 1979.  Through the years she has enjoyed volunteering with a number of organizations, such as the Salvation Army, Special Olympics, and Old Globe Theater in San Diego.  She is the recipient of numerous honors for her volunteer activities and in 2021, at the age of 99-years old, was named as a Woman of Dedication by the Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary of San Diego County.