(23 July 1893 – 23 October 1984)
Group 2
Operator Mary Evelyn Thomas was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1893, one of three daughters of Emmet and Nellie (Hodgsdon) Thomas. She went by “Eveyln” as an adult. She does not appear to have used Mary during or after the war.
Evelyn’s father, Mr. Emmet Thomas, was a wealthy business owner, the founder of Thomas Hoist Company. She attended the St. Patrick’s Academy in Chicago with her sister, Marjorie. Following high school, she does not appear to have attended college or had an occupation.
The sisters, Evelyn and Marjorie, were one of eleven pairs of sisters to join the US Army Signal Corps. They were among the first women to be accepted. Trained in Chicago at the Bell Telephone offices there, they shipped to France as part of the Second Group. She arrived in France aboard the Carmania. They were both discharged in July of 1919, serving several months past the Armistice.
Upon her return to the United Sates, Evelyn again took up residence with her family. She lived with them in Chicago and occasionally spent time in a large family home in Florida. They seem to have been spared during the Great Depression, as her father’s company continued to prosper.
Evelyn remained living in her mother’s household following her father’s death in 1942, as well as in Palm Beach. She was an active member of Chicago’s Women’s Athletic Club until her death in 1984. Mary Evelyn Thomas is buried in Rosehill Cemetery, near her parents.
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