Kathleen M. Bruyere | |
---|---|
Birth name | Kathleen Mae Donahue |
Other name(s) | Kathleen Mae Byerly |
Born | Norfolk, Virginia, U.S. | 5 February 1944
Died | 3 September 2020 San Diego, California, U.S. | (aged 76)
Place of burial | Miramar National Cemetery, San Diego, California |
Allegiance | United States |
Service/ | United States Navy |
Years of service | 1966–1994 |
Rank | Captain |
Kathleen Mae Bruyere (née Donahue, previously Byerly; 5 February 1944 – 3 September 2020) was a captain in the United States Navy. She was one of the twelve women named by Time magazine as Time Person of the Year in 1975, representing American women (at the height of the feminist movement). In May 1975, she became the first female officer in the Navy to serve as the flag secretary to an admiral commanding an operational staff. In 1977, Byerly was one of six officers who sued the United States Secretary of the Navy and the United States Secretary of Defense over their being restricted from serving on combat aircraft and ships. This led to the 1948 Women's Armed Services Integration Act being struck down as unconstitutional.
Kathleen Mae Donahue was born in Norfolk, Virginia, on 5 February 1944,[1] the oldest of six children of Joseph Donahue, an Army officer, and his wife Lucille née Alessandroni. She had four brothers: Joseph, Paul, Timothy and Matthew, and a sister, Lucia. The family moved frequently as her father moved from assignment to assignment in the United States, Germany and Greece. She attended Trenton Catholic High School while her father was stationed at Fort Dix, but completed her high school education in Germany. She entered Chestnut Hill College, from which she graduated in 1966.[2]
Bruyere retired from the Navy in 1994 and moved to Chula Vista, California. She cared for her husband, who had Parkinson's disease, until his death in 2009.[2] She was on the boards of the local chapters of the Parkinson's Association, the Alzheimer's Association, the George G. Glenner Center for Memory Care and Caregiver Support, and the Military Officers Association of America.[7] She died from cancer in Paradise Valley Hospital in San Diego on 3 September 2020. Her remains were interred in Miramar National Cemetery,[2] where she had worked for many years as a volunteer.[9]
In 2022, Bruyere became the subject of the documentary Time for Change: The Kathy Bruyere Story directed by filmmaker and veteran Daniel L. Bernardi.[10] The documentary received lots of critical attention and it screened at the opening night of the 2023 GI Film Festival San Diego, where it won the Best Short Documentary award.[11] Time for Change: The Kathy Bruyere Story opened the film festival alongside another documentary of women in the military directed by Daniel Bernardi, a feature film centred on Army nurse Jennifer Moreno tiled: Ultimate Sacrifices Cpt. Jennifer Moreno.[12]