Mary Lue taught kindergarten from the fall of 1945 until the spring of 1946. As much as she enjoyed her teaching job, she wanted to try something new. “I yearned for a little adventure, to break out,” she later reflected. She had recently begun to date a young man named Ralph Collett and things had gotten serious between them. However, Mary Lue was unsure about things, and felt she needed to “analyze [her] relationship with Ralph and learn independence.” She wrote, “Ralph and I knew that I had to try my wings now or never. Try my wings—that is exactly what I did. I rode out to the airport one day and had an interview with Dale Peck of United Airlines.”
She inquired about a position as an airline stewardess. At that time stewardesses were required to have a college degree and to be unmarried. Having met the requirements and passed several tests, she was hired. She was requested to report to the United Airlines stewardess training in Chicago on Monday, April 15, 1946.
The Sunday evening prior to her departure, Mary Lue attended an LDS youth fireside held by the Bonneville Ward. It was at this gathering that she met Keith McCune, a young man whose family also lived in the Bonneville Ward but who had been away for several years on a mission and in military service in Argentina and Panama respectively. Keith had returned home for a short visit and was to return to Panama a few days later. He recounted the events of that evening:
It was a Sunday evening and the Bonneville Ward in which we lived, both Mary Lue and her family and my parents and their family, was having a fireside that evening. So I said to my sister Elaine, “How about going with me to the fireside and let me look the situation over there.” The fireside was held at the home of Milton Backman, which was a nice home on Yale Avenue, about a half a block West of the Knell place. We sat around the perimeter of their rather large living room as the lesson was presented and across the living room from me was Mary Lue and a friend named Joyce Robinson [Poulson]. After the lesson period was over, when they were preparing the refreshments and everybody was just sitting around gabbing, they saw me sitting alone over there. I think Elaine was over visiting some friends of hers and they said, “Why don’t you come over and talk to us.” So I scooted over and sat down and started talking to them. Something about Mary Lue just really struck me even at that time as I first met her. We talked a while and then had the refreshments. I learned from Mary Lue that she had graduated from the University of Utah in elementary education and she was teaching school but had decided that she wanted something more adventuresome in life. She had applied for a job as a stewardess with the United Airlines and she said, of all things, “I’m leaving this weekend to go to Chicago to go to the airline stewardess school,” and I said, “I’m leaving this weekend to return to Panama.” I think we both talked about how we were going, which was by train.After the fireside, Elaine and I walked home, we were just around the block. We were walking up the street and it so happens that Mary Lue and her friend Joyce were walking right ahead of us. As we walked up the street, we talked some more and my mother told me later that she could tell when I came home that night that there was really kind of a spark in my feelings and attitudes towards this new girl I had met.
Friday, April 12 was Mary Lue’s last day teaching. She wrote in her journal, “Eventful day! Last day of teaching—first day of a new adventure. The teachers at Emerson gave me a white slip as a going away present. I boarded the train at 5:30 p.m. and Met Bonnie Griffiths. This is my first night in a Pullman Sleeper.”
The next morning she arrived in Denver. Bonnie was the mutual friend of both Mary Lue and of Keith’s sister Elaine and was on her way to Chicago for stewardess training as well. The two arrived in Denver the next morning at 8:30.
Meanwhile, Keith had also departed that Friday evening by train from Salt Lake for Brownsville, Texas, where he would depart for Panama. He stopped to change trains in Denver and while waiting to store his luggage for the layover, he heard a voice behind him say, “Hey, what are you doing in Denver?” “I turned around and it was Mary Lue and her friend,” Keith recalled. “I said to them, ‘Well, I have about an eight hour layover.’ They did too. I said, ‘We might as well go around town together if you like, and we’ll do some sight-seeing,’ and so we did. We spent the day together and did a lot of sight-seeing. I didn’t have camera with me, but Mary Lue had a little box Kodak camera and so we took pictures.”
In her diary Mary Lue wrote, “Bonnie, Keith and I saw high spots of Denver’s scenery. We visited the museum—saw the Tabor relics and climbed to the dome of the gold-topped Capitol building.”
Keith’s train left at 3:30 that afternoon. They said their goodbyes and exchanged addresses so they could keep in touch. Keith had Mary Lue send him the negatives of the pictures they had taken in Denver and he made several 8x10 prints, which he sent to Mary Lue. Mary Lue and Bonnie boarded the Zephyr bound for Chicago at 4:01 and had dinner on the train before retiring for the night.
Mary Lue arrived at Union Station in Chicago the next morning, April 14, and began her training. The classes continued until May 10 when the final exams were completed. The following selections from her diary offer a glimpse into her activities during that busy month:
April 14: Arrived in the big city—Union Station. Took car along lake to Southmoor hotel. Muriel, Mary, Bonnie and I have a cozy little 2x4. Bonnie’s brother Dick came to hotel. Mr. Decker (United Airlines Rep.) talked to us on the mezzanine. Went into town to dinner on Illinois Central. Saw Frankie Carl and his orchestra at the Hotel Sherman. Back to hotel and bed.
April 15: First day of school at Chicago airport, 7:00am. 70 girls in class from all over U.S. Met Marian in town—ate dinner at Harding’s with Bonnie, Dick, and Bob. Looked for navy blue shoes. Got back to hotel at 10—studied for test.
April 16: Seems as if we have been here a month. Sat in same seat for two days!!! Heaven knows how much longer. Fitted for hats. Another test tomorrow. Egad! We aren’t seeing much of Chicago itself.
April 20: Had our pictures taken for United Airlines. Went to town. Shopped at Marshall Fielding—Drove along Lake Shore—saw place where ’33 Fair had been. Women’s hats are unusually queer in this place.
April 21: Easter. Went to Evanston Ward with Bonnie, Dick, Bob, Marian, Virginia, Lynn. Had Smorgasbord at Bit of Sweden. Walked on Lake Shore—Easter bonnets were a pill. Took a tour on Chicago bus. Saw nothing but Negro section and South Shore. Gee my feet are sore.
April 22: Four more lectures today. It seems more like summer than spring here.
April 23: Not an unusual day—This evening Muriel, Bonnie, and I went bicycle riding in Jackson Park. The sunset was beautiful and the lake was calm—it seemed like we were in another world. We should know our domiciles this week—“keep your pages crossed.”
April 25: Denver here I come! Heaven only knows what the future holds there. Muriel, Bonnie and Mary all stationed in San Francisco. Called the folks.
April 26: Had our suits fitted at Harp Shaffner Marks. Saw inside of C54. Had a miserable test. Saw “Up in Central Park.” It was really something.
April 27: My first mainliner trip at 5:30 to Cleveland.
April 28: Slept until noon. Went to art exhibit. Saw Sigmund Romberg Concert.—a real thrill. Ate dinner at Old Heidelberg Café.
May 3: Tests! Three of the darn things. After school I ate at the famous Palmer House with Jean, Muriel, Virginia and Bonnie. Then we saw “The Day Before Spring” with Irene Manning and Bill Johnson.
May 4: Shopped with Marian to a find a nightgown for Joyce. Met Dick and Bonnie. Ate at the Terrace Room. Went Bowling. Saw Kay Francis and Roger Pryor in Windy Hill. Chicago is almost ready for a blackout. The bright lights of Chicago just aren’t. This coal strike appears desperate.
May 10: Graduation Day! Seneca Hotel—Gardenias, daiquiris, diplomas.Upon her graduation from training, Mary Lue was assigned to Denver as her base city. The Salt Lake Tribune reported, “A new career in the sky has opened for Miss Mary Lue Knell who recently graduated from Airline stewardess school in Chicago. Miss Knell has been assigned to United Air Lines’ Western division.”
She arrived at the Denver airport early May 13 and received her schedule. Her first on duty flight was to be the following morning. Mary Lue recorded the details of the nightmarish experience in her diary, “8am—first flight. Denver to Salt Lake on a very choppy flight. About 11 sick passengers and myself. I tried to serve a continental breakfast. Almost impossible. A Navy flier knocked over the food trays. Cranberry jelly, eggs, and corn flakes were all over me and the floor.”
Despite that disastrous first flight, Mary Lue enjoyed her work as a stewardess. She was able to fly to Salt Lake frequently to visit with her family. Her assignment to the Denver home base was counted as a blessing because her brother Jim was stationed at Denver’s Fitzsimmons’ Hospital with the army and the two had occasion to visit regularly and, at times, to attend Church together. Jim recalled, “I saw her quite a few times while I was in Denver. One night they had a flight from Denver up to Fort Collins and back and she invited me to go along with her on the flight. So, I went down to the airport with her and flew up and back and was able to look into the cockpit and talk to the pilot.”
Mary Lue looked forward to the time they spent together and one evening after dinner and a long visit, she wrote, “I hated to say goodbye tonight.”
As a stewardess, Mary Lue had the opportunity to travel to many major western American cities (San Francisco, Denver, Portland, etc.) and to mingle with people from all walks of life. She was even invited to dinner by gentlemen passengers, which offers she occasionally accepted. During one flight from Denver to Salt Lake, Mary Lue had a conversation with an elderly woman who was intently observing the southern Wyoming landscape below. The woman said, “The last time I crossed this area I was in a covered wagon.”
While Mary Lue had completed requirements for graduation from the University after summer quarter 1945, the commencement exercises for her class were not held until June 4, 1946. She had arranged to be home for the ceremony but was called away on June 2 on an “emergency flight to Portland. Attending graduation from the University seemed impossible.”
To her relief, dispatch found her a flight to Salt Lake the following day. However, the lead stewardess on the flight got sick and it appeared as though Mary Lue would have to continue from Salt Lake to Denver. Fortunately, the stewardess recovered and she was able to participate in graduation after all. On the day of the event, Mary Lue recorded, “The day I’ve waited for all my life—graduation. Marie and I got to march and sit together. Dr. Rappard, from Geneva, spoke to 400 graduates. Ralph, Marie, Golden, and I went to Graduation dinner dance—it was good to see everyone.”
Rarely was a stay in Salt Lake complete without a date with Ralph Collett and the two continued to date regularly during the summer. On June 12, they attended her friend Joyce Robinson’s wedding to Bill Poulson and along with several other friends, “found Joyce’s and Bill’s cabin at Utah Motor Park and really fixed it!!!”
On another occasion, Ralph took the morning off work and they “went looking for nasturtiums.”
As the weeks passed, Mary Lue’s fondness for Ralph increased. On May 11, she journalized, “Ralph hmmm—he’s nice.” After spending the 4th of July with Ralph at the Tooele Rodeo and Saltair, she wrote, “I’m beginning to think Ralph’s the one.”
Later in the summer, Keith McCune returned to the United States from his military assignment in Panama. He landed in Maryland and drove across country to Salt Lake. Having corresponded with Mary Lue by mail from time to time, he thought he would pay her a surprise visit in Denver along the way but was disappointed to find that she was away on a flight. Upon his return home, he began dating a young lady named Ethel Hogue. Ethel also worked for United Airlines at their offices in the Salt Lake airport. One day, while waiting for Ethel outside her office, Mary Lue walked by in her stewardess uniform. Keith stopped her and they chatted for a moment. He said, “If we’re going to keep bumping into each other, I better find out what your schedule is.” He discovered that she was going to be in town for the weekend. That Saturday, the McCune family had planned a family outing to the picnic area behind Mt. Nebo near Nephi. Keith invited Ethel but Friday night came and she was unable to find someone to work her shift for her. Keith thought of Mary Lue. He later reminisced:
Early Saturday morning, about 8 o’clock I went over to Mary Lue’s house and knocked on the door. I said, “I know it’s kind of early but we’re having a family outing and I was just wondering if Mary Lue got in and if she’d be interested in going with me.” Her mother said, “Well, I don’t know, she just got in about 5:30 this morning from her flight. You’d better let me go check with her. She’s asleep right now.” So, she went and checked with her and came back and said, “Yes, she’d like to go.” So, she got out of bed after a couple of hours rest and we had a great day with the family down there picnicking and so forth. Coming home, I drove her up in front of the house and she said, “Would you might me letting off a couple doors away from my home?” She’d already explained to me she had a date that night with this fellow named Ralph. So, I dropped her off and said goodnight and I went on home.Keith later learned that Ralph “had a ring for her and that he wanted to get engaged that night” but that she “decided to hold off a little.”
Keith continued to call on Mary Lue that fall and they began to date regularly. They often wondered what the neighbors thought when they saw Keith “pick her up with her little overnight bag and then bring her back a few days later. Ward members and close friends knew she was a stewardess, but there were those who didn't know what was going on.”
Mary Lue and Ralph drifted apart, as did Keith and Ethel. Eventually Keith and Mary Lue were engaged. Keith reflected, “We got engaged, although she claimed I never did formally ask her to marry me. It was just one of those kind of things we worked in to. She gave me a bad time about that for years. But we were engaged and committed and felt like that was the thing to be. Of course, as we looked back over the way we met each other and how our paths kept crossing, we felt like there was a hand in it that was bringing us together.”
2 Mary Lue McCune, Diary 1946, entry for 15 April 1946.
3 Keith N. McCune, Interview—1, 2.
4 Mary Lue McCune, Diary 1946, entry for 12 April 1946.
5 Ibid., entry for 13 April 1946.
6 Keith N. McCune, Interview—1, 2-3.
7 Mary Lue McCune, Diary 1946, entry for 13 April 1946.
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid., entries for 14-16, 20-23, 25-28 April and 3, 4, 10 May 1946.
10 Notice in Salt Lake Tribune, qtd. in Mary Lue McCune, Book of Remembrance.
11 Mary Lue McCune, Diary 1946, entry for 14 May 1946.
12 James K. Knell, Interview, 2.
13 Mary Lue McCune, Diary 1946, entry for 15 May 1946.
14 Keith N. McCune, Interview—2, 1.
15 Mary Lue McCune, Diary 1946, entry for 2 June 1946.
16 Ibid., entries for 3, 4 June 1946.
17 Ibid., entry for 12 June 1946.
18 Ibid., entry for 17 May 1946.
19 Ibid., entry for 4 July 1946.
20 Keith N. McCune, Interview—1, 3-4.
21 Ibid.
22 Darcy McBride, Reminiscence, 2.
23 Keith N. McCune, Interview—1, 4.
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