Pvt. Laura Quartarella

In 1943 artist Francis V. Kughler, Hudson River Museum Director H. Armour Smith and Women’s Army Corps recruiter Joanne Coates conceived a plan to encourage women of Yonkers to enlist in the army and honor their contribution. Every Yonkers woman who joined the WACs would have her portrait made in oil or pastel by Kughler.

Half of the eight Quartarella children were in the military. Laura Quartarella’s younger sister Nancy has a WAC portrait hanging at right. Her brother Nicholas was in the Army Air Force and Thomas was in the Coast Guard. After World War II, she married Navy Sergeant Edward Chema, who became a rare three-war veteran, also serving in Korea and Vietnam.