Geneva Anneal Worley was born on May 2, 1925 in Banks County, Georgia. She grew up in the Homer and Cornelia areas. She graduated from Banks County High School in May, 1942. She had just turned 17.
After graduation she went to Clarksville Technical School where the government tested students for various aptitudes and offered jobs to those who passed. Geneva passed and was offered a job at Robins Field, the newly built Air Force Base at Warner Robins, Georgia. The offer represented more money than she could make in other places. She accepted the job and moved to live away from home for the first time. Her parents sent her off with enough money for food and rent for one month. They told her that she would have to manage it carefully because they could give her no more. She was afraid that she would run out of money and have to move back home. When she got her first paycheck, it was more money than she had ever had.
Geneva Worley (left) while living in Macon and working at Robins Field.
Geneva lived in a boarding house in Macon, GA, a short distance from Warner Robins and rode a converted school bus to work and back each day. Her landlady fixed her a brown bag lunch to carry. Here she met young people from many other parts of the country, something she had never experienced before. She enjoyed getting to know them and go out with groups of them in her time off. For her next birthday, her parents each sent her $1 so she could eat out. She still has both of them.
Geneva Worley (lower left) at her work bench at Robins Field.
After working for a few weeks, Geneva was sent to New York City for more training for about 8 weeks. Geneva’s job at Robins Field was soldering cables at a test bench. The workers did not know what these were. The parts were brought to their station with instructions and were picked up when the work was done. The building where she worked had one door to enter and exit. A guard checked each worker’s ID when they entered after they had already been checked at the gate outside. The employees took their jobs very seriously and did not talk to other people about their work. They could shop at the base PX but could not go into any other buildings.
Geneva worked at Robins Field until December, 1944 when she married Bill Hadley, whom she had met in Macon. The woman who ran the boarding house where Geneva lived also ran one next door for men. The residents of the two houses took their meals together and that is where Bill and “Genny” got to know each other. After leaving Macon, the couple moved a couple of times before settling in his hometown of Chipley, GA (now Pine Mountain, GA). Geneva still lives there at the age of 92 and still remembers her time as a “Rosie” proudly.
Submitted by Deborah Hadley Johnston, daughter of Geneva Chapman