After she graduated from high school in nearby Pawnee City, a classmate, Jimmy Dee Winchell, helped her and her family move to California. He and most of her male friends then served in WWII, and several lost their lives. Mary Alice was featured as “The Merkley-Austin Choir Girl” on a weekly radio broadcast from San Diego and still has some of the fan letters. Jim was shot while fighting the Germans. His buddies disobeyed orders to abandon the injured and they dragged him to safety anyway. He returned and married Mary Alice on August 17, 1947.
They lived in La Mesa and she worked at Western Lumber in downtown San Diego and later at DMV, doing transcriptions for the Division of Driver Safety. She enjoyed watching football (especially with her Nebraska Cornhuskers) and baseball, and playing games such as dominoes. She remained sharp and active well into her 80s.
Mary Alice and Jimmy Dee adopted two children, Annette Louise and Michael John. Mary Alice shared with them her love of music and was always there to support them and the five grand-children who followed, Rachel, James, Melissa, Amanda, and Richard. Her husband, Jim, and son, Mike, predeceased her, but Mary Alice also welcomed Patrick Farrior, Elaine Winchell, and James Cooney as they married into the family. She adored her one great-granddaughter, McKenna Cooney.
Mary Alice outlived many friends and relatives before eventually succumbing to dementia. She passed on July 16, 2020, at the age of 96. She will always be remembered for her dedication to family and positive encouragement to all.
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