May 4, 2006 Issue                                               

©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Obituaries

Kathleen McNulty Mauchly Antonelli

Kathleen McNulty Mauchly Antonelli, computer pioneer, dies at age 85

Kathleen “Kay” McNulty Mauchly Antonelli, 85, one of the original programmers of the first electronic computer, ENIAC, died of cancer April 20 at Keystone Hospice in Wyndmoor.

Mrs. Antonelli was a computer pioneer, a trailblazer among women, who also raised seven children and volunteered as a Girl Scout leader and Cub Scout den mother.

During World War II, Mrs. Antonelli went to work as a “computer” at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, calculating ballistic firing tables for the Army. She moved on to working on, then supervising, the computations on the Differential Analyzer, an electro-mechanical analog calculating device that could do the same trajectory calculations in a fraction of the time.

Her skill gained her an invitation to work on the ultimate in high-speed machines being developed in secret at Penn as part of the war effort. That was the ENIAC, the first general-purpose electronic computer. Mrs. Antonelli was part of a team of six women who were commissioned to program the computer, making them the first programmers of the first computer. She figured out how to design programs by studying the block diagrams of the machine.

Mrs. Antonelli helped program the ENIAC with its first major problem, the feasibility of the H-Bomb, a calculation problem presented to Penn by scientists from the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos.

After the war, when ENlAC was moved to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Mrs. Antonelli moved with it, helping to dismantle and reassemble the behemoth, which used about 18,000 vacuum tubes to do the work of calculation at electronic speeds.

During this time, she got to know John W. Mauchly, who, with J. Presper Eckert, had designed ENIAC. In 1948 she married him, and in 1950 they moved to Ambler, where they raised a family at Little Linden Farm. Mrs. Antonelli continued to participate in computer developments as a sounding board for her husband’s ideas, and served as an officer and treasurer of companies he founded.

At home, she was active in her children’s lives as well as in the community.

After John Mauchly died in 1980, she married photographer Severo Antonelli. She continued to be involved the history of computers. She was sought after as a speaker for events such as the ENIAC anniversary celebrations, ACME (Association for Computing Machinery) meetings, and openings of computer history museums.

Honored for years as Mauchly’s widow, she eventually achieved recognition for her own role in computer history as someone who created and helped defme the work of software programming. In 1997 she was inducted into the Women Technology International (WITI) Hall of Fame. Her oral history was recorded in 1998, and is part of a documentary film on the ENlAC programmers called The Computers. She has received numerous awards, and a scholarship in computer science is named in her honor at the Letterkenny Institute of Technology in Ireland.

Mrs. Antonelli was born Feb. 12, 1921, in Creeslough, County Donegal, Ireland, and came to this country with her family as a young girl. She was the daughter of James McNulty, an Irish patriot and a commandant of the Doe Battalion of the Irish Volunteers during the Irish Rebellion, and Anne Nelis McNulty. She grew up in Wyndmoor and Chestnut Hill, speaking only Gaelic until she started school at Our Mother of Consolation, and attended Hallahan Catholic High School in Philadelphia.

Mrs. Antonelli was graduated from Chestnut Hill College in 1942 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics.

She is survived by her children: James Mauchly of Warren, N.H.; Sidney Mauchly Reed Nelia of Reading; Sally Mauchly FitzSimmons of Flourtown; Kathleen Mauchly McNulty of Ambler; J. William Mauchly of Berwyn; Virginia Mauchly Calcerano of York, and Eva Mauchly Moos of Ambler. She leaves 29 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren. One of six children herself, she is a survived by one sister, Cecilia McNulty Gray (Harry J.) of Springfield, Delaware County, and numerous nieces and nephews.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at St. Anthony’s Roman Catholic.

Memorial donations may be made to AMANECER, a home for Bolivian street children, founded by her close friend, Sister Stephanie, at AMANECER, c/o Daughters of Charity, 330 Seaton Ave., Emmitsburg, MD 21727.

Raymond Frick

Raymond G. Frick Jr., 92, of Atlantic Beach, Fla., formerly of Chestnut Hill, died on February 18, 2006. A graduate of William Penn Charter School, he was a member of the Philadelphia Cricket Club, the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields and was an active member of the board of the United Way.

After retiring from Fidelity Philadelphia Trust Company (now Wachovia), Mr. Frick moved to Cowpet Bay, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands where he lived for many years, enjoying his family, friends, boating, woodworking and building model boats.

Mr. Frick is survived by his wife of 68 years, Dorothy Knight-Frick; a daughter, Sally Frick Cockayne of St. Thomas; a daughter-in-law, Therese Frick Schubert of Tavernier, Fla.; and seven grandchildren: Bruce Jones, Vanessa Robisch, Kimberly Knoepfel, Barton Cockayne, Robin Smith, Lance Frick and Brian Frick; and nine great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his son, Martin K. Frick.

Private services will be held at a later date.

Albert J. Kraft Jr

Albert Kraft Jr.

Albert J. Kraft Jr., M.D., of Lansdale, formerly of Lafayette Hill, died at home on April 25.

Dr. Kraft attended Roman Catholic High School and graduated from LaSalle University in 1944. He received his medical degree from Thomas Jefferson Medical College in 1947. From 1951 to 1953 he served as a flight surgeon in the U .S. Air Force Medical Corps.

Dr. Kraft spent over 50 years in medicine as a cardiologist at Chestnut Hill Hospital and was instrumental in starting the first Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at the hospital in 1966. He also served as a volunteer medical director for St. Joseph Villa in Flourtown for 25 years.

Dr. Kraft is survived by his wife Peggy (Campbell); six daughters: Margie Kraft, Maureen Johnston (William), Eileen D’Amico (Martin), Susan Burkey (Daniel), Karen Hoehn (Michael), and Colleen Shields (Chistopher); and a son, Albert “Jay” Kraft III (Janet); 21 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Relatives and friends may visit the family at St. Philip Neri Church, 437 Ridge Pike, Lafayette Hill, from 9:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m., to be followed by his Life Celebration at noon. Interment will be private.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. Joseph Villa, 110 W. Wissahickon Ave., Flourtown, PA 19031 or to Roman Catholic High School, 301 N. Broad St., Phila., PA 19107.

Katy Lebowitz

Katy Lebowitz

Katy Lebowitz, 51, of Chestnut Hill, died on April 18, following a prolonged struggle with breast cancer.

Mrs. Lebowitz was born in Framingham, Mass., and was raised in nearby Natick. She was the daughter of the late Marshall and Charlotte (Myerson) Lebowitz. She graduated first in her 660 person high school class, earned a National Merit Scholarship, and entered Dartmouth College in 1972 as a member of the first Dartmouth class to accept women. She majored in math and government and graduated magna cum laude.

In 1976 Mrs. Lebowitz worked for the Department of State, and worked to set up the first International Women’s Year conference in Houston in 1977. She then attended law school at the University of California, Berkeley, and was chosen as the student representative to the faculty senate. After graduation she worked for the California Abortion Rights Action League and as a tax attorney.

In 1984 she moved to Philadelphia, married David Lockard, and began raising her family. In addition to her husband, she is survived by two sons: Adam, an Abington Friends School senior and Noah, a Penn Charter 9th grader; and a daughter, Hannah, a Springside second grader. She is also survived by a sister, Wendy Lebowitz (Joel Nowak) of Brooklyn Heights, NY; a niece, Jessica Lockard; and three nephews: David Lockard, Dov and Max Lebowitz-Nowak. She was predeceased by her younger brother Mark, who died in 1985.

Ms. Lebowitz enjoyed skiing, swimming, playing the piano, singing, writing poetry, and solving math ‘brain teasers,’ and encouraged her children to do the same.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to The Quaker School at Horsham, 318 Meetinghouse Road, Horsham, PA 19044.

Edward Murphy

Edward J. Murphy, of Wyndmoor, died on April 30.

Mr. Murphy is survived by his wife, Eileen (Flanagan); three sons, Thomas, Edward Jr. (Eileen) and James; a daughter, Maria; and two brothers, Larry and Joseph (Margaret).

Relatives and friends may call at Seven Dolors Church, 1200 E. Willow Grove Ave. in Wyndmoor on Thursday, May 4 at 9 a.m., to be followed by a funeral Mass at 10 a.m. Interment will take place at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, Robert Morris Bldg., 100 N. 17th St., 2nd Floor, Phila., PA 19103.Ruth Wilkes
Ruth M. Wilkes (Henry), of Mt. Airy, died on April 27.

Mrs. Wilkes is survived by her husband, Edward J. Wilkes Sr., a son, Edward J. Wilkes Jr. (Janet); a grandson, Jason; a sister, Ann Riccardi (Rickey); a brother-in-law, Dr. Chester E. Smith; and several nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Mrs. Wilkes was a member of the Legion of Mary at Holy Cross Church.

A funeral Mass took place at Holy Cross Church on May 2, followed by interment at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to the charity of the donor’s choice.