Durham, North Carolina
Nona McDonnell Flagg
1926 — 2024
Nona McDonnell Flagg, 98, passed away peacefully in her apartment at Croasdaile Village in Durham, NC, on Friday, November 29, 2024. Nona Mae Duke was born on March 12, 1926, and lived with her family on a series of tenant farms outside of Chickamauga, GA, until they moved to Rossville, GA, in 1939. Following graduation from high school, she joined the US Cadet Nurse Corps, which Congress created to alleviate the nursing shortage exacerbated by World War II, and began her nursing training at Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga, TN. In 1946 she married Dr. William F. McDonnell, Jr. and left nursing training to accompany him as he completed his military service. She completed her nursing...