Mattie Treadwell

Mattie Evelyn Pat Treadwell passed away at the Clarewood House Retirement Community in Houston, Texas on August 30, 2010.

Miss Treadwell was born in Corpus Christi, Texas on December 27, 1913, to parents Bascom Bishop and Jessie Nall Treadwell. She and her sister, Ara Treadwell Yale, grew up in Uvalde, Texas where her father, a pharmacist, and her mother owned the Palace Drug Company.

She later moved to Austin and attended the University of Texas. She received her B.A. degree with highest honors in 1934 and M.A. in 1935, majoring in English and Education. She was elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa in 1933 and Pi Lambda Theta Honorary Education Fraternity in 1934.

After teaching in Del Rio and Port Arthur, Texas, Miss Treadwell went to Washington, D.C. in January of 1939 as Junior Examiner with the U.S. Civil Service Commission. She studied at American University and later at Catholic University, where two plays that she authored were produced.

In July, 1942 she became a member of the first officer candidate class of the newlyformed Womens Army Auxiliary Corps WAAC being sworn in on July 13th. In February, 1943 she was chosen as one of the first group of about a dozen women officers to be admitted to the Armys Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. On September 1, 1943, Captain Treadwell joined other WAAC personnel in being sworn into the newlyauthorized Womens Army Corps WAC, Army of the United States, a corps with full military status.

In March of 1944, Major Treadwell was assigned to Director Oveta Culp Hobbys Office in the War Department General Staff, where she served as Assistant Chief of the WAC Branch. In April of 1945 she was made Director of Training of the newlycreated School for WAC Personnel Administration, Purdue University, Indiana.

At the end of the war she was chosen to write the official History of the Womens Army Corps for the Office, Chief Military History, U.S. Army. She reported in October, 1945 and returned to career Civil Service status in November, 1947, leaving the Army in the rank of Lt. Colonel, with assignment to the USAF Reserve. She completed writing the WAC history in a civilian capacity. Publication of the volume United States Army in World War, Special Studies, The Womens Army Corps followed in 1953.

Returning to Texas in 1952, she was employed by Region Five of the Federal Civil Defense Administration renamed in 1972 as the Civil Defense Preparedness Agency, which covered the states of Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and New Mexico. Here she served at various times as Assistant Regional Director, and Chief Regional Field Officer.

Miss Treadwell is survived by her nieces and nephew, Pat Yale Korge, William Dickinson Yale Jr. and Ara Yale Davis, their spouses Fred Korge, Pamela W. Yale, and Dwight R. Davis, her great nephews Michael Dickinson Davis and his wife, Brandy Ashcraft Davis, Patrick Yale Davis, William Dickinson Yale III and Matthew Treadwell Yale, and by her longtime caregiver, friend and companion, Bernice Cole, and her husband, Arthur Cole.

Graveside services will be held on Saturday, September 18, 2010, at 10:00 AM in Hillcrest Cemetery. Rev. Mike Marsh will officiate. Funeral arrangements are by RushingEstesKnowles Mortuary.

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