OBITUARY: Jean Horner Melin, Mitchell County, Iowa

[ Mitchell County Press online - Posted June 26, 2002 - www.mcpress.com ]


                          Jean Horner Melin

Graveside Inurnment Services were held at 1:30 pm Wednesday, June 26, 2002
at Oak Grove Cemetery in Mitchell for Jean Horner Melin, age 95, of Osage.
Reverent Jerry Newland  officiated. There was no visitation. Melin died
Thursday, June 20, 2002 at Faith Lutheran Home in Osage.

Jean Horner Melin was born March 9, 1907 in Charles City to Daniel and
Beulah (Cole) Horner. She spent her first nine and one-half years in the
Mitchell School and graduated from Osage High School in 1925. She attended
Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls from 1926 to 1928.

Melin was in the first contingent to go to the first WAAC training center
at Ft. Des Moines. As a new officer she spent time in New York City and New
Jersey recruiting. In January she and 15 other WAACs were selected to go to
Command and General Staff School in Ft. Leavenworth, KS. Fifteen women were
first lieutenants, the 16th, a captain. Never in the history of the school
had any male officer qualified under the grade of major and never before
had women attended, thereby breaking Army tradition. Jean spent time in
the Pentagon selecting women for various assignments, both stateside and
overseas. In September she was taken into the regular Army. The WAAC was
an auxiliary to the Army, the second "A" was eliminated. The WAC became
"The Womens Army Corps." At that time she was promoted to Captain and
subsequently assigned to the Army ground forces replacement school command
in Birmingham, AL where she was staff director reporting to the commanding
general on women's affairs. Twelve detachments of women across the lower
half of the United States replaced men for active duty. She was promoted
to major in 1944.

After 22 months in Birmingham she was assigned to Purdue University at West
Lafayette, IN to assist in establishing a school for WAC officers. At the
end of WWII she returned to civilian status and worked in War Assets
Administration and in the Pentagon, only to be recalled to service as staff
director of WAC's in the First Service Command at Governor's Island, NY.
She left the Army for the second time in 1948. Later she worked on
government contracts for various companies in Buffalo, NY, Phoenix, AZ
and Los Angeles, CA. Prior to the military Jean worked in Davenport and
Chicago, IL. She moved back to Iowa in 1990.

Jean was preceded in death by her parents and one sister, Josephine Schmarzo.

Survivors include two nephews, Gordon Schmarzo and his wife Donna of
Manning and Kenneth Schmarzo of Charles City.

Champion-Bucheit Funeral Home in Osage is in charge of services.
(641) 732-3706.




Copyright (c) 2002 by Kermit Kittleson
(Note: I am not necessarily related to the subject of the obituary.)
This copy contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives.

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