Gertrude Schnaitter, American Red Cross Nurse in the Great War

Gertrude Schnaitter was born in Sandusky in 1884, to Frank and Christina Schnaitter. In the 1910 U.S. Census, Gertrude was listed as pupil studying nursing at the Lakeside Hospital in Cleveland. Below is a portion of Gertrude’s Passport Application, dated August 9, 1917.

Medical officials from Lakeside Hospital stated in a letter attached to the passport application, “This is to certify that Miss Gertrude E. Schnaitter has been duly appointed by the Officials in Washington as a Red Cross Nurse who is going to France as additional personnel to Base Hospital No. 4 now located there.” An article in the September 18, 1917 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal reported that she was the nurse in charge of the second contingent of nurses from Lakeside Hospital who were traveling to France to serve in military hospitals during the Great War. She cabled her parents that she had arrived “Safe.”

On November 1, 1917, an article in the Sandusky Star Journal indicated that Gertrude found joy in her work as a Red Cross Nurse. During her time in France, Gertrude served under the British, and cared for Australian soldiers who were injured during the war.

By the Spring of 1919, the medical team in Rouen, France returned to the United States. In April of 1921, Gertrude married Dr. Andrew Robert Warner in a ceremony officiated by the Rev. N.R.H. Moor. Dr. Warner had formerly been the superintendent at Lakeside Hospital in Cleveland.

Following Dr. Warner’s death, Gertrude Schnaitter Warner returned to Sandusky. She passed away on October 7, 1966, and was buried at Oakland Cemetery. 

To learn more about the Cleveland doctors and nurses who served at U.S. Army Base No. 4 during World War I, see the article about the Lakeside Unit in the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History.