Renée Bernadette Émilie LeMaire was born on 10 April 1914 in Bastogne to Gustave Lemaire and Bertha Gallée. Her parents owned a hardware store in Bastogne. She had two sisters, Gisèle and Marguerite. Lemaire had been a nurse in Brussels during World War II.

In December 1944, Renée returned to Bastogne to visit her parents and was trapped when the Germans launched its Ardennes offensive on December 16, 1944. Along with nurse Augusta Chiwy, she volunteered at an aid station for the American 20th Armored Infantry Battalion on December 21, 1944.

On December 24, 1944, around 8:30 PM, Germans bombed the building where the aid station was located. According to a column in a Belgian newspaper, the aid station in the basement of the Sarma Store on rue de Neufchateau was demolished. Lemaire managed to evacuate six soldiers from the burning building and died while she attempted to save a seventh wounded. Dr. Prior recovered her remains and brought them back to her parents wrapped in a white parachute. She has been forever since known as "The Angel of Bastogne."

Nurse Renée Bernadette Émilie LeMaire is now buried in the Bastogne Communal Cemetery in Belgium.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, alchetron.com