MARGUERITE ADKISSON, 1930-1994

A much-loved member of the UCAR family died last week.  Marguerite 
Adkisson, switchboard operator from 1961 to 1966 and from 1981 until 
recently, passed away at home on Monday, 
15 August.  Though Marguerite took her official retirement at the end of 
last December, she continued working on a casual basis much of this 
year.

Marguerite began her career as NCAR's first switchboard operator before 
any of the current sites had been occupied.  She then worked for Ball 
Corporation for a number of years before returning to NCAR.  In a 1984 
Staff Notes profile, she recalled the early NCAR days:  "We used to have 
a big, old-fashioned board with plugs and lines.  You could have 
20 lines going at once."
	
Staff members who dropped in on the operators at the Mesa Lab got to 
know Marguerite well, as did her coworkers.  "I first worked here back in 
the late 1970s," says Dolores Boyd, who job-shared with Marguerite in 
recent years.  "I can remember Carole Craig [another operator at the time] 
telling me about Marguerite.  She was an avid knitter, and apparently she 
would knit sweaters at the switchboard during the slow periods.  When I 
came back to NCAR in 1988, I thought it was really neat to meet the 
infamous knitter.  Marguerite was quiet but still very talkative in her own 
way.  She was a very, very sweet lady."

Along with knitting, Marguerite enjoyed sewing, music, and crafts.  She 
was a member of Boulder's First Assembly of God Church.  Marguerite is 
survived by her husband, Ted; a son and daughter; and three 
grandchildren.  Contributions in her memory may be sent to the 
American Heart Association, Box 4003, Boulder 80306-4003.  -- BH