Y2 US Navy, Maria Crecencia Chavez Olives

Maria “Crecencia” Chavez (Olives) enlisted in the Navy Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) on August 18, 1944. ^{1, 2} She completed Naval Training School at Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls, Iowa. ³ She then trained in secretarial skills at Hunter College in New York City and was stationed at the Bureau of Ships in Washington D.C. reassigning personnel returning from overseas duty. ⁴

Chavez was born in Los Tanos, New Mexico, to Maria Guadalupe Martinez and Antonio Angel Chavez. ⁴ One of seven children, she lived her childhood in Santa Rosa, New Mexico, and graduated from Santa Rosa High School in 1942. ⁴ After graduation, she moved to Santa Fe where she worked for the State of New Mexico. ⁴

After the war, Chavez returned to New Mexico, enrolling in the University of New Mexico. ⁴ One year later, on May 6, 1947, she married Robert Olives, and they had nine children together. ^{4, 5} Chavez and her husband started their life together in Oakland, where she worked at the Alameda Air Base. ⁴ She returned to Santa Rosa in 1956, where she worked full-time for the New Mexico Welfare Department. ⁴ She continued her professional career, being elected to serve two terms as County Clerk of Guadalupe County. ⁴ In 1972, the family settled in Albuquerque, where Chavez worked for the Disability Determination Unit for Social Security, until her retirement in 1989. ⁴ Upon retirement, she volunteered at St Joseph’s (now Lovelace) Hospital, assisting patients and their families, and providing Spanish-English translation. ⁴ She served as a Board Member and Vice President of Membership of the Lovelace Auxiliary and was awarded her 5,000-hour pin signifying her generous 20-year service to the hospital. ⁴