Norman Rockwell ‘Rosie the Riveter’ Model Dead at 92: Mary Doyle Keefe Remembered as Feminist Icon During WWII

Norman Rockwell's famed 1943 Rosie the Riveter portrait became the symbol of workingwomen and feminism in America during World War II. The painting displayed a woman with her sleeves pushed up while eating a sandwich as a rivet gun lay upon her lap. Now, it's being reported that the model who posed for the illustration, Mary Doyle Keefe, has died at the age of 92.

TMZ notes that the model passed away at her home in Connecticut after battling a "brief illness."

Keefe was just 19-years-old when she agreed to pose for Rockwell's painting. According to a 2012 interview with The Courant, Keefe explained that her family and Rockwell were neighbors.

"He liked to paint from photos," she said, "so his photographer took pictures of me, just posing me different ways and telling me to look this way or that. I don't remember the photographer telling me to have any kind of attitude on my face, but I'm 90 and don't remember."

One of the more striking takeaways from Rockwell's painting was the fact that the model appears a bit beefed up and muscular. In actually, Keefe was anything but that.

The gossip site notes that Rockwell apparently apologized to Keefe for making her appear larger than life in the painting. He said that in order to get the message across he needed to make her look like "sort of a giant."

For more information on Mary Doyle Keefe's death, head on over to TMZ or The Courant.

A photo posted by Beyoncé (@beyonce) on Jul 22, 2014 at 6:41am PDT

[Image Courtesy of ABC News/Twitter]