Edward Patrick Conners (March 17, 1916–September 1, 1995)

By Paige Parker and Tyler Campbell

Early Life

Edward Patrick Conners was born March 17, 1916, in East Chicago, Indiana. He had two older siblings: a sister, Helen, and a brother, Ambrose. His father, Judein Conners, worked as a laborer. Edward’s father died before he was two years old. ¹ His mother, Mary, was remarried soon afterward to Elmer Kimberling, a railroad conductor. ² Edward’s brother Ambrose died of tuberculosis in 1935. ³ Just one year later, in 1936, his sister Helen died of tuberculosis as well. ⁴ Death from tuberculosis was common in the early twentieth century, and the prevention and treatment for the disease was not fully understood. ⁵

Edward played football at Logansport High School. According to the 1935 Logansport High School yearbook seen here, he gained the nickname “Juicy.” ⁶ After graduating in 1935, Conners began working for the telephone company in Indiana as a lineman. ⁷ On February 10, 1940, he married Margaret Delores Daly in Logansport, Indiana. ⁸ Their marriage ended a short time after that. Two years later, on March 1, 1942, Conners married Lola Beatrice Cole in Phenix City, Alabama. Their marriage announcement, seen here, provided details of his departure for Army Signal Corp training in New Jersey. ⁹

Military Service: World War II and Korea

Conners enlisted in the Army on February 26, 1941, at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Marion County, Indiana. The fort, constructed at the end of the Spanish-American War, was one of the largest training and mobilization sites in the county. ¹⁰ As previously mentioned, he attended Officer’s Signal School in 1942, which trained officers for the Army Signal Corp. The Army Signal Corp originated during the American Civil War as advancing technologies of war and an expanding battlefield made communication even more important. ¹¹ By the beginning of World War II, there was a need for skilled lineman within the Army Signal Corp. ¹² Conners’ civilian skills in this field likely helped him gain entry into the Army Signal Corp.

He was discharged from service on November 15, 1947, and then reenlisted on December 3 of that same year. This phase of his military service would extend for seventeen years and see Conners achieve the rank of Master Sergeant. During his time in the service he received several awards including a Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Combat Infantry Badge, and Korean Presidential Unit Citation. ¹³ These medals suggest that Conners saw active combat during his time in the service and received wounds from combat. He also remarried during this period, on August 16, 1948, to Edna Catherine Simmons in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where Simmons lived and Conners was stationed at the time. ¹⁴ He was stationed in many locations during his service, including the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and others. ¹⁵ He retired from military service on June 30, 1964. ¹⁶

Post-War Life: Moving to Florida

Sometime after his service, Conners moved to Florida and lived in Atlantic Beach, east of Jacksonville. ¹⁷ He died on September 1, 1995, in Alachua County, Florida. He is memorialized in Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida. His plot number is MC: 97.

© 2017, University of Central Florida