Maggie Eloise Cliatt

Maggie Eloise Cliatt, who went by Eloise, became a nursing student at Patterson's Hospital in Cuthbert, GA at 16. She went on to practice in several doctor's offices and joined the WAVES in 1943. In 1944 she was a waitress at Mom's Restaurant in Norman, OK when she married William Olin Spaeth who served at the naval base there. They moved to Jacksonville, FL, then to Edison, GA when Will was discharged. Eloise was an Electronics student at Southern Tech in Chamblee, GA for 9 months, then went back to nursing school in 1950 at Grady Hospital in Atlanta. In 1963 she worked as an ER nurse at the new DeKalb Hospital, but hurt her back and became disabled. When Will decided to quit teaching at Southern Tech, now in Marietta in 1965, they moved to Cornelia, GA. Eloise honed her writing skills and in 1974 became a stringer [part-timer] at the Gainesville, GA Daily Times. Through the 70s she had two columns there and when not asking school children questions like 'How old is old?' she covered all of the political races in Habersham County. She did an article for Atlanta Magazine about a primitive artist in White County during this time. She was known for quietly helping people in need. Maggie Eloise Cliatt was born to Edward Thomas Cliatt (1891 - 1967) and Cattie Corene Curry (1891 - 1967). She married William Olin Spaeth on August 26, 1944, in Norman, Okalahoma, and they had children David Baldwin (1945- 1945), Susan Eloise (1945 - 1945), and two other daughters who survived infancy. A veteran of World War II, Eloise was in the WAVES - the United States Navy. She was a PhM, which is a Pharmacists' Mate.