Mary (Welch) McConnell (1914 - 1957)

Born 18 Sep 1914 in Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa USA

Wife of James Clinton McConnell — married 22 May 1948 in Caracus, Venzuela, South America

Died 13 Dec 1957 at age 43 in Sausalito, California USA

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Biography

Mary was born in 1914. She passed away in 1957.

Sources

• Family Records

Carroll Daily Times Herald (Carroll, Iowa) 16 Dec 1957

Dies; Won High Honors as Student

Mrs. James C. McConnell, 43, of Sausalito, Calif., the former Mary Evelyn Welch of Carroll, died Friday night, Dec. 13, at San Francisco, Calif., after a two-month illness according to word received by friends here.

Mrs. McConnell was born in Carroll Sept. 18, 1914. After her graduation from Carroll HIgh School, she attended Des Moines College of Law. She had been a member of the firm of shorthand reporters, Donaldson, Connolly, Whitman and Howse of Detroit, Mich., from September, 1940 until her death.

Surviving are her husband, James C. of Sausalito; her mother, Mrs. W. P. (Mary E.) Welch, Sausalito; five sisters, Mrs. Richard (Marita) Percival, Des Moines; Mrs. Harvey (Dorothy) Wardrop, Seaside, Calif.; Mrs. Donald (Lucille) Flash, Sausalito; Mrs. William (Margaret) Barnes, San Francisco, and Mrs Ed (Lillian) Hennessey, Bury St. Edmunds, England, and one brother Paul F. Welch of Omaha, Neb.

Mrs. McConnell was a member of the National Thespian Society. While attending Carroll HJigh School she placed first in the state shorthand contest, with a perfect transcript in both the district and state contests, and second in a state typing contest, with a speed of 67 words per minute, in 1931. She held a straight A Average throughout high school.

From June 1931, to July 1937, Mrs. McConnell was employed as bookkeeper - stenographer at the Commercial Savings Bank here. From July, 1937, to April, 1938 she was a stenographer for the U. S. Soil Conservation Service in Des Moines.

In April 1938, she began working for the U. S. Bureau of Bilological Survey (Now Fish and Wildlife Service ) in Des Moines, continuing until July 1940, when she went to Boston, Mass., to work in the same department until September 1940.

In August 1938, Mrs. McConnell received a certificate as a certified shorthand reporter of Iowa, awarded as a result of an examination conducted by the Iowa Board of Shorthand Examiners.

She held the Gregg diamond medal for shorthand speed and accuracy, having received it in December, 1940. Her 99 percent best record ever made in Michigan was at the speed of 200 words per minute. Only two other holders of the Gregg diamond medal have ever surpassed her record.