Friends and family bid a final farewell to the “First Lady of Ordnance” during a service for retired Army Lt. Col. Luta Mae Cornelius McGrath at Arlington National Cemetery Oct. 31.
At the time of her death on April 14, it is believed that McGrath was the oldest female veteran and the oldest female officer in the nation at the age of 108.
“I’m going to miss her,” said Betty Kelton, whose friendship with McGrath stretches to 1957. “She had quite a life.”
Kelton said dozens of people attended the service for McGrath, who was affectionately known as “Cornie.”
“She was always there to give,” said Kelton. “She was just loved by so many people.”
McGrath died peacefully at her home in Annandale, Va. Born in 1904 in Beattyville, Ky., she was among the 400,000 women who served in uniform during World War II. McGrath began her military career in the Women’s Army Corps in 1943 and went on to retire as a lieutenant colonel in 1961. During her time in the service, she helped coordinate the Berlin Airlift in 1948, as one of the chief ordnance officers in West Germany.
It was while in Germany that McGrath met her husband, Thomas, said Kelton. When the couple returned to the United States, they married at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Md. The union remained strong until Thomas’ death in 1991.
“They are buried together at the same gravesite in Arlington,” Kelton said.
After retiring from the Army, McGrath went to work for the Women in Community Service, a nonprofit that helps at-risk women find and keep jobs. She also served on the executive board of the Ordnance Corps Ladies Association and was inducted into the Ordnance Corps Hall of Fame in 1985.
A well-known fixture at Memorial Day and Veterans Day Observances at ANC, Kelton said McGrath also was active at her church and enjoyed spending time at Joint Base Myer Henderson-Hall.
McGrath would have been 109 on Nov. 21.
Pentagram Staff Writer Julia LeDoux can be reached at jledoux@dcmilitary.com.