FORT WALTON BEACH, FLA. - Alvira Schultheis, 91, World War II nurse, educator, world traveler, author, mother, and wonderful friend was born on Sept. 11, 1922 in Burkettsville, and passed away March 17, 2014, following a brief illness.

A 1943 graduate of St Elizabeth School of Nursing in Dayton, she joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps as a lieutenant, and arrived at her first assignment in England on her 21st birthday. She was assigned to the 162nd General Hospital at RAF Nocton Hall, UK, where she cared for severely wounded soldiers and airmen. After V.E. Day, she was assigned to the 98th General Hospital in Munich, Germany, where she tended soldiers too seriously injured to return to the United States at the end of the war.

She received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Dayton in 1949, and worked as an Registered Nurse in Dayton and Youngstown for several years. In 1960, she received a Bachelors of Science in Education from Youngstown University and taught elementary school for 28 years at St. Christine School in Youngstown, and later in the Newton Falls school system.

She and her husband, Werner, married in 1947. They traveled extensively in Europe and the U.S. after they both retired. After his death in 1989, she continued to travel with her daughter to the Far East, Canada and South America. She enjoyed numerous cruises and made many new friends on every adventure.

Alvira was a devout Catholic and member of St. Michael Parish in Canfield, where she was the past president of the Altar Guild, was a Funeral Mass server, an Eucharistic Minister, a member of the Thursday Scriptures Sharing Group, and the Stitchers Group. She was also a member of the Retired Officers Association, the VFW, the Trumbull County Teachers Association, the Catholic Nurses Association, and the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame.

She leaves twin children, Judy Ann Schultheis of Alexandria, Va. and James Werner (Janice) Schultheis of Fort Walton Beach; two grandchildren, Erich Werner (Kristine) Schultheis of Mason, and Dr. Lisa (Christian) Got of San Francisco; three great-grandchildren, Amber, Alexander and Gabrielle; a sister-in-law Gaylee (Paul) Goubeaux Foley of Huber Heights; a brother-in-law Ernst (Gail) Schultheis of Dayton; and dozens of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

Besides her husband, Werner, and parents, Charles and Josephine Hemmelgarn Goubeaux, she was preceded in death by her sister, Mary Wiggins and her three brothers, Alvin, Robert and Richard Goubeaux.

Family and friends may call from 9 to 10 a.m. on Monday, April 28, at St. Michael Catholic Church, where a Mass of Christian Burial will take place at 10 a.m.

A committal service with full military honors will follow at Green Haven Memorial Gardens.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Kinnick Funeral Home, 477 N. Meridian Road, Youngstown.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Alvira’s name to the WWII Women’s Memorial Foundation (WIMSA), Dept. 560, Washington, DC 20042-0560; or to St. Michael Parish, 350 N Broad St., Canfield, OH 44406