Douglas Drew McConnell, born October 8. 1892, in New Orleans, attended school there until the family moved to Los Angeles in 1910. After a term at the University of Southern California to make up required credits, he entered the College of Engineering at the University of California in Berkeley. On his graduation in 1915 he was employed by the Southern Pacific Railroad and sent to Baja California where he quickly rose to Chief Engineer and Head of Survey Party. He was working there when the U.S. entered World War I and Douglas was commissioned as 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Army Engineers.
As his younger brother, Britton, puts it, "like most strong and patriotic young men, Douglas wanted service in France but his professional abilities thwarted that. The Army was laying out new training camps requiring basic engineering planning and supervision of construction, and Douglas was in command of such units, mainly at Petersburg, VA. He was preparing for shipment overseas when the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, and was discharged as Captain, Engineers, Ninth Division."
Meanwhile, Douglas had married Gladys Minerva Chaney of Salinas, California, a fellow student at Berkeley; their first child, Douglas Drew Jr., was born in Salinas on June 5, 1918. After the war the three made their home in Berkeley where Douglas went to work for Standard Oil of California. A daughter, Marjorie Frances, was born in 1920.
Doug worked for Standard Oil for 39-1/2 years, mainly in the manufacturing areas where part of his responsibilities was as head of negotiations with the unions. Because of his knowledge of the operations of the company and his skill at dealing with people, he was transferred to the Personnel department where at his retirement in 1957 he was Assistant Director and Executive Assistant to the President. (As Britton further remarks, "The president couldn't buy a package of cigarettes without asking Doug!")
In preparation for a second career, Doug studied and passed the examinations as investment counselor, starting with a San Francisco firm and later moving to Mason Bros. in Oakland.
Gladys died in 1955 following surgery for a brain tumor; in 1957 Doug married Marion (Roller) Bardin, a Stanford graduate who had been married to Gladys' nephew, David Bardin. They had two children, Sue Anne and Michael David, who were in their teens at the time of her marriage to Doug.
Marion and Doug lived in a beautiful Contemporary-Oriental home they had built in Berkeley until 1968 when the changes following the student demonstrations at the University and the growing black problem in the town became too threatening and unpleasant. They sold the house and moved to Oakland, first in an apartment on Monte Vista Street, then to a spacious penthouse where prolific roof-gardens front and back almost make up for the lovely gardens of their Berkeley home.
(Notes from: The McConnells in California, by Margaret D. "Madge" McConnell)
As his younger brother, Britton, puts it, "like most strong and patriotic young men, Douglas wanted service in France but his professional abilities thwarted that. The Army was laying out new training camps requiring basic engineering planning and supervision of construction, and Douglas was in command of such units, mainly at Petersburg, VA. He was preparing for shipment overseas when the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, and was discharged as Captain, Engineers, Ninth Division."
Meanwhile, Douglas had married Gladys Minerva Chaney of Salinas, California, a fellow student at Berkeley; their first child, Douglas Drew Jr., was born in Salinas on June 5, 1918. After the war the three made their home in Berkeley where Douglas went to work for Standard Oil of California. A daughter, Marjorie Frances, was born in 1920.
Doug worked for Standard Oil for 39-1/2 years, mainly in the manufacturing areas where part of his responsibilities was as head of negotiations with the unions. Because of his knowledge of the operations of the company and his skill at dealing with people, he was transferred to the Personnel department where at his retirement in 1957 he was Assistant Director and Executive Assistant to the President. (As Britton further remarks, "The president couldn't buy a package of cigarettes without asking Doug!")
In preparation for a second career, Doug studied and passed the examinations as investment counselor, starting with a San Francisco firm and later moving to Mason Bros. in Oakland.
Gladys died in 1955 following surgery for a brain tumor; in 1957 Doug married Marion (Roller) Bardin, a Stanford graduate who had been married to Gladys' nephew, David Bardin. They had two children, Sue Anne and Michael David, who were in their teens at the time of her marriage to Doug.
Marion and Doug lived in a beautiful Contemporary-Oriental home they had built in Berkeley until 1968 when the changes following the student demonstrations at the University and the growing black problem in the town became too threatening and unpleasant. They sold the house and moved to Oakland, first in an apartment on Monte Vista Street, then to a spacious penthouse where prolific roof-gardens front and back almost make up for the lovely gardens of their Berkeley home.
(Notes from: The McConnells in California, by Margaret D. "Madge" McConnell)
Douglas Drew McConnell, born October 8. 1892, in New Orleans, attended school there until the family moved to Los Angeles in 1910. After a term at the University of Southern California to make up required credits, he entered the College of Engineering at the University of California in Berkeley. On his graduation in 1915 he was employed by the Southern Pacific Railroad and sent to Baja California where he quickly rose to Chief Engineer and Head of Survey Party. He was working there when the U.S. entered World War I and Douglas was commissioned as 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Army Engineers.
As his younger brother, Britton, puts it, "like most strong and patriotic young men, Douglas wanted service in France but his professional abilities thwarted that. The Army was laying out new training camps requiring basic engineering planning and supervision of construction, and Douglas was in command of such units, mainly at Petersburg, VA. He was preparing for shipment overseas when the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, and was discharged as Captain, Engineers, Ninth Division."
Meanwhile, Douglas had married Gladys Minerva Chaney of Salinas, California, a fellow student at Berkeley; their first child, Douglas Drew Jr., was born in Salinas on June 5, 1918. After the war the three made their home in Berkeley where Douglas went to work for Standard Oil of California. A daughter, Marjorie Frances, was born in 1920.
Doug worked for Standard Oil for 39-1/2 years, mainly in the manufacturing areas where part of his responsibilities was as head of negotiations with the unions. Because of his knowledge of the operations of the company and his skill at dealing with people, he was transferred to the Personnel department where at his retirement in 1957 he was Assistant Director and Executive Assistant to the President. (As Britton further remarks, "The president couldn't buy a package of cigarettes without asking Doug!")
In preparation for a second career, Doug studied and passed the examinations as investment counselor, starting with a San Francisco firm and later moving to Mason Bros. in Oakland.
Gladys died in 1955 following surgery for a brain tumor; in 1957 Doug married Marion (Roller) Bardin, a Stanford graduate who had been married to Gladys' nephew, David Bardin. They had two children, Sue Anne and Michael David, who were in their teens at the time of her marriage to Doug.
Marion and Doug lived in a beautiful Contemporary-Oriental home they had built in Berkeley until 1968 when the changes following the student demonstrations at the University and the growing black problem in the town became too threatening and unpleasant. They sold the house and moved to Oakland, first in an apartment on Monte Vista Street, then to a spacious penthouse where prolific roof-gardens front and back almost make up for the lovely gardens of their Berkeley home.
(Notes from: The McConnells in California, by Margaret D. "Madge" McConnell)
As his younger brother, Britton, puts it, "like most strong and patriotic young men, Douglas wanted service in France but his professional abilities thwarted that. The Army was laying out new training camps requiring basic engineering planning and supervision of construction, and Douglas was in command of such units, mainly at Petersburg, VA. He was preparing for shipment overseas when the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, and was discharged as Captain, Engineers, Ninth Division."
Meanwhile, Douglas had married Gladys Minerva Chaney of Salinas, California, a fellow student at Berkeley; their first child, Douglas Drew Jr., was born in Salinas on June 5, 1918. After the war the three made their home in Berkeley where Douglas went to work for Standard Oil of California. A daughter, Marjorie Frances, was born in 1920.
Doug worked for Standard Oil for 39-1/2 years, mainly in the manufacturing areas where part of his responsibilities was as head of negotiations with the unions. Because of his knowledge of the operations of the company and his skill at dealing with people, he was transferred to the Personnel department where at his retirement in 1957 he was Assistant Director and Executive Assistant to the President. (As Britton further remarks, "The president couldn't buy a package of cigarettes without asking Doug!")
In preparation for a second career, Doug studied and passed the examinations as investment counselor, starting with a San Francisco firm and later moving to Mason Bros. in Oakland.
Gladys died in 1955 following surgery for a brain tumor; in 1957 Doug married Marion (Roller) Bardin, a Stanford graduate who had been married to Gladys' nephew, David Bardin. They had two children, Sue Anne and Michael David, who were in their teens at the time of her marriage to Doug.
Marion and Doug lived in a beautiful Contemporary-Oriental home they had built in Berkeley until 1968 when the changes following the student demonstrations at the University and the growing black problem in the town became too threatening and unpleasant. They sold the house and moved to Oakland, first in an apartment on Monte Vista Street, then to a spacious penthouse where prolific roof-gardens front and back almost make up for the lovely gardens of their Berkeley home.
(Notes from: The McConnells in California, by Margaret D. "Madge" McConnell)
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