Pecan Grove Cemetery, Take II
McKillop Family
The swanky burial in Pecan Grove Cemetery that interested me was that of Harry Emmett McKillop. It includes a huge Irish cross created in Ireland by William Coffey and Sons. The cross is eye catching, but the story actually revolves around a prisoner of war named Marjorie Fuller. She is buried in the McKillop family plot even though she is no relation. I had to investigate!
Harry McKillop is the lynch-pin of our story. After serving in WWII, he worked his way to Vice President of United Airlines, then Braniff International and finally Pan American Airways. Afterwards, he went to work with Ross Perot and was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service in 2007. The award was to recognize his work identifying and returning missing POWs/MIAs from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Mr. McKillop passed in 2014, but 8 years earlier, Marjorie Fuller was buried in his family plot.
How did a frail elderly woman from an assisted living facility in Baltimore come to be buried under an Irish cross in McKinney? Stay tuned.
