Blanche
(Minerd) McCabe
(1889-1966)
Blanche
(Minerd) McCabe was born on June 24, 1889 in Fayette County, PA, the
daughter of James C. and Suvina (Yauger)
Minerd Sr. One of her sons went on to play a pioneering role in the
development of our nation's space exploration program.
Blanche married Homer O. McCabe ( ? -1956). They had six children -- Albert Philip McCabe, Homer L. McCabe, Donald F. McCabe, Laura Belle Atkinson, Jennifer Margaret Shaffer and Mary Lou Zack.
Homer worked as a "plumber and steamfitter and [was] employed in Uniontown for ... fifty-four years," said the Uniontown Morning Herald. He was a member of the Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 174.
The McCabes resided at 26 West Place in
Uniontown. Homer is seen here in a comic pose as a cowboy.
Sadly, they endured the deaths of adult daughters Laura Belle Atkinson (at age 29) and Mary Lou Zack.
Homer died at age 73 on Nov. 12, 1956.
Blanche moved to 14 West Craig Street in Uniontown, and died on May 27, 1966. At the time, she had 18 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. She and Homer are buried at Green Ridge Memorial Park in Connellsville, PA.
Son Homer served with the US Army in the Pacific Theatre during World War II.
Son
Albert, seen here with his mother, was an engineer who, during World War
II, worked with early warning radar systems at the Naval Research Laboratory.
After the war, Albert lived in California, where he specialized in the emerging
field of guidance and control of spacecraft and missiles. He is said to have
invented a missile error scorer, now known as the Global Positioning System
(GPS). He also was a top engineer for NASA's Apollo spacecraft program, and
received a letter of commendation signed by all the astronauts.
Said his daughter, "He was a physicist and a mathematician. He had a great
mind." There are several memoirs about him on Minerd.com authored by his daughter Aimee
McCabe-Walker and grandson Erin S.
Cleary.
For
more information, visit Aimee's excellent
website. She has graciously served as a
technical advisor in the development of Minerd.com, and hosted our 1998 and
1999 Minerd-Miner-Minor Reunion webpages.
Daughter Jennifer Margaret McCabe married David A. Shaffer. They had three children -- Bonnie L. Wilson, Jack P. Shaffer Sr. and Patricia E. Osborne. Their son Jack P. Shaffer Sr. (1942-2008) resided in Hopwood, and was the owner of Creative Touch Florist and the Village Upholstery Shoppe in Hopwood. Married with five children, he was a member of the Central Christian Church, AMVETS Post 103, and the Wharton Hunting and Fishing Club.
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| The Zacks |
Read a touching memoir by granddaughter Aimee McCabe-Walker
Copyright © 2001-2002, 2008 Mark A. Miner