Kathleen “Katie” Sherrow Topeka’s own WWII Rosie the Riveter will turn 100 years old Sunday and begin her second century of life.
Sherrow was just out of her teens when she was playing a pinball machine hoping to win a free hamburger at the Lunch Box restaurant in Maryville, Mo.
It was Dec. 7, 1941, and she learned of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
When she and her friend Winnie, a softball teammate, saw a Morton Aircraft ad promising employment after graduation from its training, they enrolled. It was an opportunity to earn more money and help their country.
Serving her country was important to Katie. Two of her four brothers were already in the military, and she knew her twin brothers also would serve when old enough.