Larkin, Catherine M.

• Catherine Marie Larkin was the first Salem woman to lose her life in World War II. She was 29 years old and serving with the

Army Nurses' corp when she was killed in a plane crash on March 4th in India. She was a graduate of St. James' School, class of

1933. She went on to graduate from Salem Hospital Nursing School in 1938. She served more than a year in a hospital unit in Baton

Rouge, LA. In Oct. 1941 she joined the service as an army nurse. She held the rank of chief nurse.

• Essex Aggie named a cottage in her honor, the Catherine M. Larkin Memorial Practice Cottage. She had attended the Essex County Homemaking

School of Hathorne before going to nursing school.

Larkin Cottage is the oldest building still standing on the South Campus. Built in 1950, Larkin Cottage was used as a practice cottage for the Essex Agricultural Homemaking School for many years. It is to be a learning space for Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School students and it is to be built by students.

The new Larkin Cottage will serve as a multi-use facility, including a historical museum, service kitchen, office space, exhibit hall, learning lab, and function space. This new building will hold up to 150 guests for meetings and events.

• A permanent monument honoring Catherine Larkin was placed at the intersection of Memorial Drive and Szetela Lane near Bentley School on Veterans Day 2021.

See Also

• Vertical File in Salem Collection - Larkin, Catherine M.

• Vertical File in Salem Collection - Veterans

• "Lt. Catherine M. Larkin killed in plane crash; first Salem woman to lose life in war" Salem Evening News, Mar. 12, 1945, p. 1

• "A long overdue honor for WWII nurse" Salem News, Nov. 12, 2021, p. 1