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She’s on Fire! Meet Belle of Steel #23 Sherrie C. Lydick
Sherrie C. Lydick (formerly Wilson), Retired Firefighter-Paramedic Belle of Steel # 23 July 2, 2026 When Sherrie was a little girl, she watched the TV show Emergency. The program centered around heroic first responders of the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s Squad 51 and the medical professionals at Rampart General Hospital. That show featured…
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Healthcare CEOs that walk the walk!
Amazing leaders in Healthcare We have all had those jobs where shortly after new employee orientation, are questioning, “Why did I agree to work for this manager and this place?” Yikes! As a nurse and nurse educator and writer, the author has certainly had these experiences. One of the author’s most dear friend has…
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Holy mother of music! Meet Sister Mary McLarry – Belle of Steel #22
Born Sept. 13, 1932 – Died June 21, 2018 Imagine that your head feels like it’s on fire. Chemicals put on your straight hair to turn it curly seem to be burning your scalp. “It’s burning,” Mary cried out to the beautician in the Wichita Falls salon. She wiped the tears of pain from her…
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A Moment of Magic! Kylee McGrane-Zarnoch &Margaret “Maggie” McAndrew – Belles #20 & 21
“When you wish upon a star. . . your dreams come true. . .” Who when they hear these classic Disney lyrics can’t help but feel a moment of magic? Belle of Steel Kylee McGrane-Zarnoch certainly does. In December of 2014 Kylee had a dream of helping children. She and her college roommate Maggie decided…
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Sex trafficking? Oh my. . .meet forensic nurse warrior Laurie Charles Belle of Steel #19
Dallas Fort-Worth is one of the largest metroplexes in the U.S.A., yet most residents there have no idea it is also one of the nation’s busiest sex trafficking regions. But nurse educator Laura Charles does. In fact, over the last six years, Laura has made her mission as a nurse to make sure that…
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Mother Henriette Delille bucked the French Creole system and became a candidate for sainthood!
In the traditional Catholic French Creole ways of pre-civil New Orleans, most young women did as their mothers taught them. The expectations were clear. Look your very best and find a suitable husband. But not Henriette Diaz DeLille. Henriette was born in 1813. She was considered an octaroon, her mother was a quadroon, which is…
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Grit and determination, meet Dr. Latanja Divens Belle of Steel #17
Imagine you are a brilliant little Black girl and your Mama is wanting you to go to an upper echelon private school. Mostly white. Latanja’s Mama was at the ironing board making sure her uniform looked just right. No wrinkles allowed. She checked Latanja’s braids one more time, no nappy strays allowed. Latanja quickly…
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“Oh, honey!” Meet Belle of Steel #16 June Simmons Phillips
Born June Phillips never met a stranger in her life. Her attribute, as the penultimate people person, made her one of the most successful women’s wardrobe mavens in Fort Worth, Texas. If one needed the perfect outfit, you called upon June. June loved to work. Her career in women’s wear sales spanned over sixty years…
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A young Texas woman turns tragedy into triumph. Meet Belle of Steel #15 Emily Allen Colbert
It’s the doorbell that no one ever wants to answer. “There’s been a horrific accident,” explained the policemen. “It’s your husband.” Emily, a young wife and mother of two fell to her knees on the floor. There had been a car accident on Highway 66 in Rockwall. “Oh my God,” she cried out through tears….
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You HAVE permission to engage – meet Belle of Steele #14 Vernice “Flygirl” Armour
What does it take to become America’s first African American female combat pilot? For Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour, it was going from Zero to Breakthrough! She believes that harnessing the mindset of mission accomplishment no matter what the barriers, or perceived barriers, may be is the breakthrough mentality required to accomplish whatever you set you mind…
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Honor, courage, commitment . . .meet Belle of Steel # 13 Shannon Wermers
The naval officers’ mantra is honor, courage, commitment. As she stared at the flag draped coffin in which her dashing, young, and brilliant naval aviator husband now rested, Shannon Wermers bit back tears and tried to muster up the strength to get through the military funeral ceremony. It had all started out so brilliantly. Although…
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Lady Jessie Beck and the Navy Ghostriders – Belle of Steel #12
It isn’t any secret that the ultimate gift is giving without expecting anything in return. As the first woman to own a casino in Nevada, for rootin’ tootin’ Jesse Beck, it was second nature. Jessie was a colorful, spirited woman with an independent streak. But to VA – 164, a group of Navy…
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A woman who tells it like it is, author and journalist Mary Lou Weisman
Putting a pen to words is an art, indeed a gift. Especially when those words have the power to change lives. Mary-Lou Weisman was born in 1937 in Fairfield, Connecticut to a mother who believed that writing thank you notes was a high art, and to a father who was convinced that one…
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Belle of Steel #10 Captain Valerie Ormond, USN (Ret.)
What would it be like to be aboard a floating city of men? Essentially , a men’s only club, where the sign reads “No Girls Allowed.” Retired Navy Captain Valerie Ormond knows. She was among the first female naval intelligence officers aboard a combat ship for the United States Navy. One of very few women aboard the USS…
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What exactly is a Bush Nurse? Meet Annabelle Braley
Belles of Steel exist downunder too! Take for example, Annabelle Braley, author of BUSH NURSES. Annabelle grew up in rural Australia. Out in the bush, as it is called downunder. Amidst the big red kangaroos and thousands of sheep. As a young girl, her parents wanted a better education than her small town in Queensland…
