Capt. Mary Converse. CAMARILLO - Funeral services were conducted this afternoon at 2:30 at St. Columba's Episcopal Church for Capt. Mary Converse, who died Saturday morning at St. John's Hospital.
Mrs. Converse was born March 19, 1872, in Malden, Mass. In 1938, at the age of 66, she became the only woman to receive a "master of ocean yachts, unlimited tonnage license" after holding various other pilot's licenses for 39 years.
She leaves three sons, Elisha E. Converse, of the Lingdooley Ranch, in Santa Paula, Roger and Parker Converse, both of Massachusetts, and a daughter, Mrs. John Butler of Chicago; 18 grandchildren and 56 great-grandchildren.
Private burial services were conducted at the family plot on the Lingdooley Ranch in Santa Paula following the funeral services. Pall bearers were to be Robert Bates, Allen Lombard, Lloyd Butler, Robert Reid, Read Admiral J. P. Monroe and Richard Bard.
Donations in her memory may be made to the Cancer Memorial Foundation of Santa Barbara or the Ventura County Crippled Children's Society. Friends may call at the Griffin Chapel in Camarillo until 2 p.m. this afternoon.
Source: Oxnard Press Courier Journal, Monday, 3 July 1961, Page 3
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Capt Mary Dies After Active Life. Capt. Mary Converse, 89, the only woman in the world to hold a sea-going ship pilot's license died at 9:15 this morning in St. John's hospital. She had been taken there by ambulance from her home in Las Posas road in Camarillo after a long illness.
In 1938, at age 66, Capt. Mary became the only woman to receive a "master of ocean yachts, unlimited tonnage license" after holding various other pilot's licenses for 39 years. To get the master's license, she had to talk the director of a merchant ship line into letting her sail as a junior navigation officer, the first woman in the merchant marine.
33,700 Miles. She logged 33,700 miles in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Ocean on four ships. From her trip came her license and a book "113 Days on Iron Decks." She got her first license, as a second class pilot on the New England coast, in 1899 after marrying another sea-goer, Harry E. Converse in 1891. One of the ships she sailed was later sold to the Navy and used in the Spanish-American War and World War I. When World War I came, she left the sea lanes to men and took charge of Boston Red Cross ambulance drivers. It was then she learned Russian from a young Russian officer who had broken his leg. She made him her guest and, since he didn't speak English, began to converse with him in Russian.
Keeping Busy. She said in a 1957 interview, "I do try to read a little Russian every day just to keep my hand in, you know, and not get rusty."
After her husband died in 1938, she moved to Denver. During World War II she taught navigation there to Navy men. "My dining room was the classroom and 2,500 boys attended my navigation school," she later recalled. "In sending the boys to my school, which was fondly dubbed the Annapolis Auxiliary at the Port of Denver, the Navy used to tell the boys I had a license enabling me to be captain of the Queen Mary if I owned it."
City Honors. Denver honored her in 1956 by presenting her a "Distinguished Citizen Award" at the city's centennial. The year before, she had appeared on the Garry Moore television show in New York. While she was in the east, she visited two Naval friends, Admiral Renwick Smedberg III, commandant of the Naval Academy, and Admiral Arleigh Burke, chief of naval operations.
Cap. Mary has also raised five children. When asked what her family said about her sea trips she said, "They didn't, I told them after I was all set to go." She recently was working on an autobiography and scientific articles, and trying to log at least 50 miles a day on her car. "Keeping my hand in again, " she explained.
Four of her five children are living and married. The oldest son, Elisha E. Converse lives on the Lingdooley Ranch in Santa Paula. Two sons, Roger and Gov live in Massachusetts and a daughter, Mrs. John Butler lives in Chicago. Another daughter died in 1930. Other survivors include many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are pending.
Source: Oxnard Press Courier, Oxnard, California, July 1, 1961, Pages 1 & 12
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Final Rites Conducted For Capt. Mary Converse. Capt. Mary Parker Converse, 89, the only woman in the world licensed to operate the largest ships on the high seas, was to be buried this afternoon at her family's private cemetery near Santa Paula. Mrs. Converse died Saturday at an Oxnard hospital, where she was rushed after being taken ill at her Las Posas home. She had been in poor health for some time. Funeral services were scheduled at 2:30 p.m. today at St. Columba's Episcopal Church, Camarillo.
Capt. Converse was born March 19, 1872 in Malden, Mass. Her husband, Harry E. Converse, whom she married in 1891, was a well-known Boston yachtsman and shoe manufacturer. In 1899 she got her first marine license, as a second class pilot on the Atlantic Coast. But it wasn't until after the death of her husband in 1921 [sic] that she really went into piloting seriously. In a 1957 interview she said: "After four years of those confounded tea parties and such like where widows are invited, I was bored to death. So I moved to Denver, where my friends couldn't smother me."
To get her master's license, she had to talk the director of a merchant ship line into signing her on as a junior officer, the first woman in the history of the U.S. Merchant Marine. She logged over 33,000 miles in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans aboard four ships to win her license and wrote a book about her experiences. "It was a lot of trouble," she said, "but it was worth it. The crews of those freighters razzed me plenty until they found out I could do my job." "And you should have seen the faces of my Boston friends," she added.
During Wold War II, Capt. Mary was pressed into service to teach navigation to Merchant Marine, Navy and Coast Guard officers. Her classroom was the living room of her spacious Denver home. There, over a four year span, she taught navigation to some 2500 young officers. "The newspapers said they called me 'granny'," she told an interviewer, "but it wasn't so. The boys called me 'captain' as was my due, and were proud to to [sic] it - though heaven knows they could have called me anything as long as they learned their navigation."
In 1957, Captain Mary sold her Denver home, and moved to the Converse ranch in Camarillo Heights. Before leaving Denver she was honored by being presented the city's "Distinguished Citizen Award."
She had other interest besides sailing. She learned to speak Russian, was an amateur astronomer. In recent years, her interests have included the Cerebral Palsy School of Santa Paula and the Crippled Children's Society of Ventura County.
Survivors are one daughter, Mrs. Margaret Converse Botler [sic], Winnekta, Ill.; sons, Parker and Roger W. Converse, both of Marion, Mass., and Elisha E. Converse, Santa Paula. Eighteen grandchildren, including Mrs. Stuart Abercrombie of Camarillo, and 56 great-grandchildren also survive.
The Rev. Leonard E. Dixon, pastor of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Santa Paula, was to officiate at this afternoon's rites. Private funeral services were to be conducted at the family cemetery at the Lingdooley Ranch, Santa Paula, where her granddaughter, the noted aviatrix, Mrs. Diana Converse Cyrus Bixby is also buried. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Cancer Memorial Foundation of Santa Barbara or the Crippled Children's Society of Ventura County. Pallbearers were Robert Bates, Allen Lombard, Lloyd Butler, Robert Reid, Adm. J. P. Monroe, and Richard Bard.
Source: Ventura County Star-Free Press, Ventura, California, Monday, 3 July 1961, Section B, Page 4
Capt. Mary Converse. CAMARILLO - Funeral services were conducted this afternoon at 2:30 at St. Columba's Episcopal Church for Capt. Mary Converse, who died Saturday morning at St. John's Hospital.
Mrs. Converse was born March 19, 1872, in Malden, Mass. In 1938, at the age of 66, she became the only woman to receive a "master of ocean yachts, unlimited tonnage license" after holding various other pilot's licenses for 39 years.
She leaves three sons, Elisha E. Converse, of the Lingdooley Ranch, in Santa Paula, Roger and Parker Converse, both of Massachusetts, and a daughter, Mrs. John Butler of Chicago; 18 grandchildren and 56 great-grandchildren.
Private burial services were conducted at the family plot on the Lingdooley Ranch in Santa Paula following the funeral services. Pall bearers were to be Robert Bates, Allen Lombard, Lloyd Butler, Robert Reid, Read Admiral J. P. Monroe and Richard Bard.
Donations in her memory may be made to the Cancer Memorial Foundation of Santa Barbara or the Ventura County Crippled Children's Society. Friends may call at the Griffin Chapel in Camarillo until 2 p.m. this afternoon.
Source: Oxnard Press Courier Journal, Monday, 3 July 1961, Page 3
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Capt Mary Dies After Active Life. Capt. Mary Converse, 89, the only woman in the world to hold a sea-going ship pilot's license died at 9:15 this morning in St. John's hospital. She had been taken there by ambulance from her home in Las Posas road in Camarillo after a long illness.
In 1938, at age 66, Capt. Mary became the only woman to receive a "master of ocean yachts, unlimited tonnage license" after holding various other pilot's licenses for 39 years. To get the master's license, she had to talk the director of a merchant ship line into letting her sail as a junior navigation officer, the first woman in the merchant marine.
33,700 Miles. She logged 33,700 miles in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Ocean on four ships. From her trip came her license and a book "113 Days on Iron Decks." She got her first license, as a second class pilot on the New England coast, in 1899 after marrying another sea-goer, Harry E. Converse in 1891. One of the ships she sailed was later sold to the Navy and used in the Spanish-American War and World War I. When World War I came, she left the sea lanes to men and took charge of Boston Red Cross ambulance drivers. It was then she learned Russian from a young Russian officer who had broken his leg. She made him her guest and, since he didn't speak English, began to converse with him in Russian.
Keeping Busy. She said in a 1957 interview, "I do try to read a little Russian every day just to keep my hand in, you know, and not get rusty."
After her husband died in 1938, she moved to Denver. During World War II she taught navigation there to Navy men. "My dining room was the classroom and 2,500 boys attended my navigation school," she later recalled. "In sending the boys to my school, which was fondly dubbed the Annapolis Auxiliary at the Port of Denver, the Navy used to tell the boys I had a license enabling me to be captain of the Queen Mary if I owned it."
City Honors. Denver honored her in 1956 by presenting her a "Distinguished Citizen Award" at the city's centennial. The year before, she had appeared on the Garry Moore television show in New York. While she was in the east, she visited two Naval friends, Admiral Renwick Smedberg III, commandant of the Naval Academy, and Admiral Arleigh Burke, chief of naval operations.
Cap. Mary has also raised five children. When asked what her family said about her sea trips she said, "They didn't, I told them after I was all set to go." She recently was working on an autobiography and scientific articles, and trying to log at least 50 miles a day on her car. "Keeping my hand in again, " she explained.
Four of her five children are living and married. The oldest son, Elisha E. Converse lives on the Lingdooley Ranch in Santa Paula. Two sons, Roger and Gov live in Massachusetts and a daughter, Mrs. John Butler lives in Chicago. Another daughter died in 1930. Other survivors include many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are pending.
Source: Oxnard Press Courier, Oxnard, California, July 1, 1961, Pages 1 & 12
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Final Rites Conducted For Capt. Mary Converse. Capt. Mary Parker Converse, 89, the only woman in the world licensed to operate the largest ships on the high seas, was to be buried this afternoon at her family's private cemetery near Santa Paula. Mrs. Converse died Saturday at an Oxnard hospital, where she was rushed after being taken ill at her Las Posas home. She had been in poor health for some time. Funeral services were scheduled at 2:30 p.m. today at St. Columba's Episcopal Church, Camarillo.
Capt. Converse was born March 19, 1872 in Malden, Mass. Her husband, Harry E. Converse, whom she married in 1891, was a well-known Boston yachtsman and shoe manufacturer. In 1899 she got her first marine license, as a second class pilot on the Atlantic Coast. But it wasn't until after the death of her husband in 1921 [sic] that she really went into piloting seriously. In a 1957 interview she said: "After four years of those confounded tea parties and such like where widows are invited, I was bored to death. So I moved to Denver, where my friends couldn't smother me."
To get her master's license, she had to talk the director of a merchant ship line into signing her on as a junior officer, the first woman in the history of the U.S. Merchant Marine. She logged over 33,000 miles in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans aboard four ships to win her license and wrote a book about her experiences. "It was a lot of trouble," she said, "but it was worth it. The crews of those freighters razzed me plenty until they found out I could do my job." "And you should have seen the faces of my Boston friends," she added.
During Wold War II, Capt. Mary was pressed into service to teach navigation to Merchant Marine, Navy and Coast Guard officers. Her classroom was the living room of her spacious Denver home. There, over a four year span, she taught navigation to some 2500 young officers. "The newspapers said they called me 'granny'," she told an interviewer, "but it wasn't so. The boys called me 'captain' as was my due, and were proud to to [sic] it - though heaven knows they could have called me anything as long as they learned their navigation."
In 1957, Captain Mary sold her Denver home, and moved to the Converse ranch in Camarillo Heights. Before leaving Denver she was honored by being presented the city's "Distinguished Citizen Award."
She had other interest besides sailing. She learned to speak Russian, was an amateur astronomer. In recent years, her interests have included the Cerebral Palsy School of Santa Paula and the Crippled Children's Society of Ventura County.
Survivors are one daughter, Mrs. Margaret Converse Botler [sic], Winnekta, Ill.; sons, Parker and Roger W. Converse, both of Marion, Mass., and Elisha E. Converse, Santa Paula. Eighteen grandchildren, including Mrs. Stuart Abercrombie of Camarillo, and 56 great-grandchildren also survive.
The Rev. Leonard E. Dixon, pastor of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Santa Paula, was to officiate at this afternoon's rites. Private funeral services were to be conducted at the family cemetery at the Lingdooley Ranch, Santa Paula, where her granddaughter, the noted aviatrix, Mrs. Diana Converse Cyrus Bixby is also buried. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Cancer Memorial Foundation of Santa Barbara or the Crippled Children's Society of Ventura County. Pallbearers were Robert Bates, Allen Lombard, Lloyd Butler, Robert Reid, Adm. J. P. Monroe, and Richard Bard.
Source: Ventura County Star-Free Press, Ventura, California, Monday, 3 July 1961, Section B, Page 4
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