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October 9, 2015

Earle Thaddeus McGillicuddy

Cornelius Alexander "Connie Mack" McGillicuddy, Sr.  

Baseball fans of teams of the early to mid-20th century probably recognize the name.  

According to Wikipedia, Mack, Sr. was:

"Cornelius McGillicuddy, better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball player, manager, and team owner. The longest-serving manager in Major League Baseball history, he holds records for wins, losses, and games managed, with his victory total being almost 1,000 more than any other manager."
Connie Mack was married to Margaret Hogan in 1887 and their second of three sons, Earl Thaddeus Mack was born on Feb. 1, 1890 in Worcester Co., MA.

Earle T. Mack
Earle grew up on a baseball field and in his father's clubhouse.  He wanted to be a "big league" professional baseball player but, over the years he managed to play in only a very few games. He had a mostly minor league career, both as manager and player.  Following his father's death he and another brother managed his baseball business.

While Earle was growing up, his future wife, Mary Margaret Cain was growing up in Burke Co., NC where she was born in Dec., 1890.  Her father was Corey Thomas Cain, a native of Wake Co., NC; her mother Lula Eloise Coffey, born 1866 in Caldwell Co., NC to William Elbert and Margaret Anne Kincaid Coffey.  She was the third of William and Margaret's seven children.

Earle and Mary Margaret were married on Sep. 28, 1915 in Morganton, Burke Co. and moved almost immediately to Philadelphia, the city they called "home" until 1955 when Mary passed away. I know that she was the mother of at least one child, a son, Earle T., Jr., born c1919.

Earle's obituary appeared in The Evening Star, a Washington, DC newspaper, on Feb. 6, 1967:
Earl Mack Dies, 78-Year-Old Son of Connie Mack

Upper Darby, Pa. (UPI)--Earl Mack, 78, former part owner of the Philadelphia Athletics and son of baseball's legendary Connie Mack, died Sunday at Delaware County Hospital.

Mr. Mack, the second of Connie's three sons, served with his brother, Roy, as officers of the Athletics after their father's death.  The franchise was sold in November, 1954, to Chicago financier Arnold Johnson and transferred to Kansas City.

Mr. Mack, who was around his father's clubhouse as a child, had long but undistinguished career in the minor leagues.  He played a total of five games with the Athletics in 1910, 1911 and 1914 as a catcher, third baseman and first baseman.

Following World War I, he served three seasons as player-manager at Moline, Ill., and closed his managerial career by winning the Blue Ridge League pennant with Martinsburg, W. Va.
 Margaret's obituary appeared in The Greensboro Daily News, Greensboro, NC on May. 5, 1955:
Mrs. Earl McGillicuddy

Statesville, May 4 - Mrs. Earle T. McGillicuddy, sister of Mrs. E. M. Shelton of Statesville, died yesterday at her home in Philadelphia, Pa.  Mrs. McGillicuddy was the former Mary Margaret Cain of Morganton.

She was educated at the Mary Dickson private school and the Patton High School, Morganton, and at St. Mary's and Meredith Colleges, Raleigh.  For a number of years she was organist at First Baptist Church, Morganton.  She had resided in Philadelphia since her marriage 35 years ago.

Survivors include her husband; a son, Earle T. McGillicuddy, Jr.; two grandchildren; and a sister, Mrs. Shelton.

A brief funeral service will be held at the Shelton residence on North Mulberry Street Friday at 1:15 p.m. with the Rev. J. S. Potter and the Rev. Robert Marshburn, officiating.  The funeral party will go from here to Morganton, where the funeral services will be held at the First Baptist Church at 3 p.m. Friday.  Interment will be in Forest Hill Cemetery, Morganton.



Lulu's Coffey lineage:

William > Gilliam/Polly Moore > William/Annie Boone > Thomas/Sarah Fields > John/Jane Graves > Edward/Ann Powell.  See also http://coffeycousins.blogspot.com/2013/01/lula-eloise-coffey.html