Wishing a final flight with clear skies and tail winds to a great nursing leader. Aloha from your Pacific Air Forces Nursing Services Team--Col Tamara Averett-Brauer & CMSgt Ruben Vazquez
(our PACAF SG office proudly displays this AF Art Collection depicting of Nursing Corps Chiefs and Brig Gen Wells is prominently featured )

I had the privilege of meeting Brig Gen Wells on several occasions during my AF career and the immense honor of receiving the SNCO award named for her in 2003!  She was a lifelong advocate for the Enlisted Corps and she will be missed by many

General Wells was retired and lived at Falcons Landing when I had the opportunity to meet her. I will always remember her and the conversations we had about her travels and about her dog Teddy whom she loved dearly.  It was an honor to work for her knowing her accomplishments. While working for her some  residents at Falcons Landing remembered what she accomplished when Falcons Landing was In its infancy and always asked me to give her their regards.
"A Life well lived in service to others".

The AF Nurse Corps successes are as a result of tireless leaders like BG Wells.  We are grateful for her contribution of advancing the nursing profession and being a role model for others to aspire to.  We will miss her.... but her legacy goes on forever.

I first met General Wells in Germany and later when she came to Wilford Hall in Texas. She came to introduce the new Flight cap and I had to assign a very scared 2Lt.to assist her. She got a big laugh out of the news of how shook up the young nurse became and she calmed her at the start.  When I was Chief Nurse at Hellenikon in Greece she and Colonel Carol McCleary came for a Command visit. We told the Administrative Officer that they were too tired upon arrival and when he left we headed to Athens for dinner/wine and shopping. She was always a joy, one who loved the Corps and her contributions to the Nurse Corps are endless. She never forgot me and even in her early stages of her disease she remembered me. May her Savior welcome her home and I am sure she will still be a "General" in Heaven.

General Wells was the USAF European Command Nurse in 1974 when I first met her on her visit to the small facility where I, a 29-year-old Captain, was stationed in Izmir, Turkey.

A few weeks after our brief encounter, I was flown to Incirlik AB where I underwent surgery for colon cancer.
While recovering in the hospital there, I was surprised beyond measure to receive a beautiful, floral arrangement and well-wishes from General Wells.

Several years later when our paths crossed again at a military function with my husband, she remembered me immediately and greeted me with a warmth and concern that touches my heart even these 30+ years later.

General Wells will undoubtedly live on in the memories of the multitude to whom she made a difference in her lifetime.

Sarah "Sally" P. Wells, BGEN, USAF, NC, Ret., 87, of Sterling, Virginia, died November 27, 2014 at Falcon's Landing, Sterling, VA.

Born Sept 18, 1927, in Hackensack, NJ, to Nathaniel and Isabelle Wells, she graduated from Hackensack High School in 1945. She was accepted to the Hackensack Hospital School of Nursing under the Cadet Nurse Program, graduating in 1948. In 1951, she was commissioned a 1st Lt in the USAF. Sally's service in the USAF was distinguished. She served for over 30 years, retiring in 1982 with the rank of Brigadier General, Chief of the Air Force Nurse Corps. 

Sally Wells is remembered by nephew Edwin Black, by cousins Bruce Storms and his wife Ann, by cousins William and Francis Storms, Kathleen Denman and her husband Charles, Timothy Storms and his wife Teri.

Burial will be at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.

Gen Wells was the Corps Chief when I first came into the Air Force.  Sometime during my first assignment I had the opportunity to meet her person when she visited Scott--I think she cam eto a retirement, but dont remember for sure. I do remember her and the positive impact she had on me.  
 My sympathy is extended to her family and friends.
 made a postivie impact on me.

Take comfort in knowing that now you have a special guardian angel to watch over you.

I was sad to learn about the passing of our oldest living former Chief of the US Air Force Nurse Corps. I first met General Wells when she was a Colonel in the mid 1970s; I was a young Captain assigned to the USAF Hospital at Wiesbaden, Germany. She was the USAF European Command Nurse. She had a real passion for nursing and for life; she made a lasting impression on me as a junior officer.

Even in retirement, General Wells continued to impact the USAF Nurse Corps. Almost 30 years ago, she started a tradition of laying wreaths at Christmas time on the graves of Air Force Nurses buried at Arlington National Cemetery. This practice continues today and has expanded to other activities to recognize and remember the many Air Force Nurses and WW II US Army Flight Nurses buried at Arlington.

Sally was an extraordinary leader and will long be remembered for the many ways she made a difference in the USAF Medical Service to include an annual award named in her honor.

I extend my most sincere condolences to the family members and friends of Brigadier General Sally Wells.

Linda J. Stierle
Brigadier General, USAF, NC (Retired)

All you had to do was meet Sally once and you understood why she had risen to the rank of General Officer.  Sally was a really Lady, Friend and great supporter of Acacia Federal Savings Bank and a true Asset to the Air Force and America.

We are very sad to hear of Sarah's passing.  She was an inspiring  leader and her contributions as a Director of Acacia Federal Savings Bank will long be remembered by the managememnt and associates.  On behalf of Ameritas Holding Company , our condolences to her family and friends

OBITUARY

Sarah Pauline Wells

September 18, 1927 – November 27, 2014

Murphy Funeral Homes

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