Opha May Jacob was born on May 4, 1878 in Kokomo, Indiana. She graduated in 1875 from the shorthand and typewriting department of Wood's Commercial College in Washington, DC. She was the salutatorian of her class. On December 20, 1898 she married Victor Johnson. He was the musical director at Lafayette Square Opera House. She started working for the Interstate Commerce Commission.
Opha May became the first woman to enlist in the Marine Corps reserves on August 13, 1918. Her first duties were as a clerk at Headquarters Marine Corps. She managed the records of other female reservists who enlisted after her. In September of that year she was promoted to Sargent and was the highest ranking woman during her service. She was a charter member of the American Legion post created on July 11, 1919 for female reservists. At the end of World War I all branches of service began to disenroll women. After her military service she worked as a clerk in the War Department until she retired in 1943.
Opha May died on August 11, 1955 at Mount Alto VA hospital in Washington, DC. Her funeral services were held 37 years to the day after she enrolled in the Marine Corps reserves. She was buried with her husband and parents in Rock Creek Cemetery in an unmarked grave. On August 29, 2018 she received a grave marker provided by the Women's Marines Association. The training center on Grissom Air Reserve Base was named after her on November 10, 2022. She received a monument in her honor in Kokomo the next day.
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