Person Page 4,929

Obituary -- The Wichita Eagle, Wichita, Kansas; Sunday, 21 MAY 2006, p.14 (Newspapers.com):

Garst, Dale N., 88, loving husband, father, grandfather, and retired City of Wichita, Sanitation director, died Saturday, May 20, 2006. Visitation: Today 3 - 8 p.m.; Services: 2 p.m. Monday, both at Culbertson-Smith Mortuary, 115 S. Seneca. Graveside 10 a.m. Tuesday, Highland Cemetery.

Survivors include his wife of 64 years, Mary Elizabeth, of Wichita; son, John Garst and wife Mary Jo, of Alamogordo; daughter, Janet Bernstein and husband Joe, of Sherman Oaks, Calif.; grandchildren, Robert and Diane Garst, Jacob and wife Tova, Jenny, Jeremiah, Joshua, Judah and Gabriella Bernstein.

As sanitation director, Dale planned the city's first sanitation routes 50 years ago, as well as organizing street cleaning and snow removal. Retiring after 30 years of civil service, Dale lived out his dream by owning a 139-acre farm off K-15 at 55th Street South. With 3,000 bushels of wheat, and pounds of melons, squash, and tomatoes harvested per season, Dale's farming was as successful and satisfying as his service to the city.

He was a sensitive and kind man with a strong commitment to his family, friends, religion, and the many dogs he saved throughout his years. He will be deeply missed by all whose lives he touched. A memorial has been established with First Church of the Brethren.

Obituary -- (Findagrave.com):

They were the “Flying McConnells,” three brothers from the American heartland who gained lasting fame in air battles of World War II. Thomas L., Fred J., and Edwin M. McConnell, all natives of Kansas, today lend their illustrious surname to one of the Air Force’s largest bases.

The three all grew up in Wichita and attended North High School, where they excelled in academics and sports. Fred was 24, Edwin was 21, and Thomas was 19 when they joined the Army Air Forces as aviation cadets on the same day (March 22, 1943) at Fort Riley, Kan. They trained together in California and received their pilot’s wings on the same day at Luke Field, Ariz.

The brothers were a media sensation, billed as “Three of a Kind.” All three became B-24 copilots and joined the same squadron in the South Pacific theater, where they went into action on the same day. Yet the brothers fought together for only a few months.

Second Lt. Thomas McConnell, the youngest of the three, was killed in action on July 10, 1943, on his third combat mission. His B-24 had just bombed Japan’s Kahili airfield at Bougainville and was returning to base on Guadalcanal when the bomber, in dense fog, crashed into a mountainside. All 11 crew died. Thomas was 20.

The other two McConnells survived the war. Fred flew 61 missions and attained the grade of captain only to perish on active duty after returning home. He was a military flying instructor stationed at Cook Field, Neb., and was flying to a new assignment at Garden Plain, Kan., when his aircraft on Oct. 22, 1945, struck a power line and crashed. Fred was killed instantly. He was 27.

Edwin flew 56 combat missions and returned home with a Distinguished Flying Cross. He resigned from active duty in August 1945 and spent two years as a commercial airline pilot, eventually enrolling in college and taking a job in industry. Edwin remained in the Air Force Reserve and finally ended his military career in 1981. Retired Lt. Col. Edwin McConnell died at his home in Englewood, Colo., on Sept. 1, 1997. He was 76.

On April 12, 1954, Wichita AFB, Kan., was rechristened McConnell Air Force Base in honor of Tom and Fred. Edwin was not included due to policy against naming a base after a living person. At a rededication ceremony on June 14, 1999, Edwin’s name was added.

Obituary -- The Sacramento Bee, Sacramento, California; Friday, 5 SEP 1997, p.23 (Newspapers.com):

Edwin McConnell, 76, aviation her of WWII

New York Times

Lt. Col. Edwin Maurice McConnell, the last of the three “Flying McConnell Brothers” of World War II whose name was given to an air base in Kansas, died Monday at his home in Englewood, Colo. He was 76.

He had suffered for some time from Leukemia and Parkinson’s disease, his family said.

The brothers, who were lionized in the American heartland, trained and served together in the South Pacific. Each flew on a B-24 bomber as co-pilot during the war.

The three McConnells, natives of Wichita, Kan., signed up as aviation cadets in the Army Air Forces on March 22, 1943, at Fort Riley. They trained together in California and earned their wings at Luke Field in Phoenix.

Edwin McConnell was a sophomore pre-med student at Michigan State University at the time. He flew 56 missions and came home with the Air Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal.

The youngest of the trio, 2nd Lt. Thomas McConnell, died in combat, at age 20. In July 1943, his B-24 Liberator crashed in deep fog into a mountainside while returning to base on Guadalcanal from a strike against a Japanese field.

Capt. Fred McConnell died at age 27 in October 1945. He was changing assignments when the small private plane he was flying crashed en route to Garden Plains Air Force Base in Kansas from Cook Field in Nebraska.

The former Wichita Air Force Base, in south-central Kansas, a one-time municipal airport, was renamed McConnell Air Force Base in 1954 after Tom and Fred McConnell. Edwin was not included then because it is military policy that a base may not be named after living persons.

The site is now the host of the 22nd Air Refueling Wing. Edwin McConnell paid his last visit to the base four years ago for a reunion of his old outfit, the 307th Bomb Group.

He left active duty in the Air Force after the was to become a district engineer for the Johns-Manville Sales Corp. In Colorado. He retired from the company in 1982, but continued to serve in the Air Force Reserve until retiring with the rank of Lieutenant colonel in 1981.

He is survived by his wife, Yvonne E. VonTilius McConnell, a daughter, Shauna Jones of Arvada, Colo.; a son, Ron McConnell of Boulder, Colo.; three stepsons, John, Terry, and Mark VonTilius, all of Denver, two stepdaughters, Mary Ann Campbell of Rockford, Ill., and Nancy Huettl of Westminster, Colo.; two grandchildren; 10 step-grandchildren; and two step-great-grandchildren.

(Findagrave.com):

They were the “Flying McConnells,” three brothers from the American heartland who gained lasting fame in air battles of World War II. Thomas L., Fred J., and Edwin M. McConnell, all natives of Kansas, today lend their illustrious surname to one of the Air Force’s largest bases.

The three all grew up in Wichita and attended North High School, where they excelled in academics and sports. Fred was 24, Edwin was 21, and Thomas was 19 when they joined the Army Air Forces as aviation cadets on the same day (March 22, 1943) at Fort Riley, Kan. They trained together in California and received their pilot’s wings on the same day at Luke Field, Ariz.

The brothers were a media sensation, billed as “Three of a Kind.” All three became B-24 copilots and joined the same squadron in the South Pacific theater, where they went into action on the same day. Yet the brothers fought together for only a few months.

Second Lt. Thomas McConnell, the youngest of the three, was killed in action on July 10, 1943, on his third combat mission. His B-24 had just bombed Japan’s Kahili airfield at Bougainville and was returning to base on Guadalcanal when the bomber, in dense fog, crashed into a mountainside. All 11 crew died. Thomas was 20.

The other two McConnells survived the war. Fred flew 61 missions and attained the grade of captain only to perish on active duty after returning home. He was a military flying instructor stationed at Cook Field, Neb., and was flying to a new assignment at Garden Plain, Kan., when his aircraft on Oct. 22, 1945, struck a power line and crashed. Fred was killed instantly. He was 27.

Edwin flew 56 combat missions and returned home with a Distinguished Flying Cross. He resigned from active duty in August 1945 and spent two years as a commercial airline pilot, eventually enrolling in college and taking a job in industry. Edwin remained in the Air Force Reserve and finally ended his military career in 1981. Retired Lt. Col. Edwin McConnell died at his home in Englewood, Colo., on Sept. 1, 1997. He was 76.

On April 12, 1954, Wichita AFB, Kan., was rechristened McConnell Air Force Base in honor of Tom and Fred. Edwin was not included due to policy against naming a base after a living person. At a rededication ceremony on June 14, 1999, Edwin’s name was added.

Obituary -- (Findagrave.com):

They were the “Flying McConnells,” three brothers from the American heartland who gained lasting fame in air battles of World War II. Thomas L., Fred J., and Edwin M. McConnell, all natives of Kansas, today lend their illustrious surname to one of the Air Force’s largest bases.

The three all grew up in Wichita and attended North High School, where they excelled in academics and sports. Fred was 24, Edwin was 21, and Thomas was 19 when they joined the Army Air Forces as aviation cadets on the same day (March 22, 1943) at Fort Riley, Kan. They trained together in California and received their pilot’s wings on the same day at Luke Field, Ariz.

The brothers were a media sensation, billed as “Three of a Kind.” All three became B-24 copilots and joined the same squadron in the South Pacific theater, where they went into action on the same day. Yet the brothers fought together for only a few months.

Second Lt. Thomas McConnell, the youngest of the three, was killed in action on July 10, 1943, on his third combat mission. His B-24 had just bombed Japan’s Kahili airfield at Bougainville and was returning to base on Guadalcanal when the bomber, in dense fog, crashed into a mountainside. All 11 crew died. Thomas was 20.

The other two McConnells survived the war. Fred flew 61 missions and attained the grade of captain only to perish on active duty after returning home. He was a military flying instructor stationed at Cook Field, Neb., and was flying to a new assignment at Garden Plain, Kan., when his aircraft on Oct. 22, 1945, struck a power line and crashed. Fred was killed instantly. He was 27.

Edwin flew 56 combat missions and returned home with a Distinguished Flying Cross. He resigned from active duty in August 1945 and spent two years as a commercial airline pilot, eventually enrolling in college and taking a job in industry. Edwin remained in the Air Force Reserve and finally ended his military career in 1981. Retired Lt. Col. Edwin McConnell died at his home in Englewood, Colo., on Sept. 1, 1997. He was 76.

On April 12, 1954, Wichita AFB, Kan., was rechristened McConnell Air Force Base in honor of Tom and Fred. Edwin was not included due to policy against naming a base after a living person. At a rededication ceremony on June 14, 1999, Edwin’s name was added.

Obituary -- (Findagrave.com):

Mary Louise was daughter of Lottie Mae DeWeese and Leslie Divola Klein and sister of Anita Jane (Stover).

Mary Louise Klein married Fred 'Freddie' Junior McConnell June 1942, Visalia, CA. They had two children, daughter Kittie Lou (English) 1943 and Thomas Lance McConnell. Freddie and his brothers, Thomas L. and Edwin M., were pilots in WWII, known as the 'flying McConnells' and famed for their identical service careers in the Army Air Corps. In tribute to the brothers, a resolution was made May 11, 1954 to change the name of the Wichita (Kansas) Air Force Base to McConnell Air Force Base in their honor. Freddie flew 61 missions in his B-24 in the Pacific only to return home and die 21 Oct 1945 when his private plane struck a power line near Garden Plain, Kansas. Mary Louise was with him when the plane crashed but escaped injury.

Mary Louise married 1946 to Louis Napolean Stevens. They had one daughter, Nancy Drue Stevens (Miller) in 1947.

Mary Louise married 1955 Maurice Edward Wilson. Their children were Maura Dennice Wilson (Piparo) 1956 and Scott Lee Wilson 1959.

In 1961 Mary Louise married Harold Loyd Stearns. They had one son, William Robert Stearns 1962 before the marriage dissolved in 1980.

Obituary -- (Findagrave.com):

Marybell B. Mernik -- Age 80, of Spanish Fort, AL, passed away at home on May 8, 2003. Marybell was born in Minneapolis, MN on September 15, 1922 to Hugo W. and Charlotte O. Zander. She was married to Walter J. Mernik for 56 years before he preceded her in death on August 14, 1997. Mom and Dad moved to Gulf Shores, AL when they purchased Sea Horse Resort. She gave the Pink Pony Pub its name in 1968. Mom was a true sports enthusiast with Alabama at the top of her list. She was the All-American Mom-Room Mother, Girl Scout Leader, Team Supporter, PTA Member, Everybody's Mom-whose family and children always came first. We will all miss her dearly.

She is survived by four children and spouses, Bill and Madeleine Mernik; Tammy and Wayne Chisenhall; Bruce and Annette Mernik; and Debby and Dave Dalton; ten grandchildren, Shelly, Bill, Mark, JB, Gar, Tammy, Marcy, Kerry, Sherry, and DJ; and eight great grandchildren.

Funeral services for Mrs. Marybell Mernik are Monday, May 12, 2003 at 2pm from Bayview Funeral Home in Daphne, AL with burial in Memory Gardens of Fairhope. Mrs. Mernik will lie in state from 1pm until 2pm before service. In lieu of flowers, as a true animal lover, Mom would have liked contributions to be made to the Baldwin County Humane Society. Arrangements by BAYVIEW FUNERAL HOME, Daphne, Alabama.

Published in the Mobile Register, Mobile, Alabama on 5/11/2003.