Kelsey:  Where were you born and raised?

McWilliams:  I was born in Dover, and raised in Kenvil, New Jersey.

Kelsey:  When the war started, were you married, or were you single?

McWilliams:  I was single then.

Kelsey:  Did you get married during the war?

McWilliams:  Uh-huh, that’s why I left Picatinny, to get married.  He came home from overseas, and I wanted to go with him.

Kelsey:  When did you get married, what year?

McWilliams:  I was there in ’44, I got married in ’45.  That’s when I left Picatinny.  My maiden name was DeRienzo.

Kelsey:  And how do you spell that?

McWilliams:  D-E, capital R, I-E-N-Z-O.

Kelsey:  So when did you go to work at Picatinny?

McWilliams:  I went in ’44, and left in ’45, like I said, to get married.  Our first base was Oklahoma, we went to

             Oklahoma.  He came back from overseas.  He was in the Air Corps, in the Navy.  He’d been stationed on an

            aircraft carrier.  He came home, his next base was going to be Norman, Oklahoma, and wartime, you know, I

            had to be with him.  So I left and we went to Oklahoma.  In fact, we were in Oklahoma when the war was over in

            Germany, and his next base was Florida.  We went to Jacksonville, and the war was over there in Japan.  That’s

            where we were.

Kelsey:  Why did you go to work at Picatinny?

McWilliams:  I don’t know, it was like a wartime thing.  It was something you thought you had to do.  My whole family

            worked at Picatinny.  My father was head of the stores area there.  I went to work in the ordnance department,

            though.  That’s the only place they would let me work there.  My mother worked—I was just telling [Mr.

            O’Hagan], my mother worked first there.  She sewed the bags that they put the powder in.  And when she

            stayed there working, after the war was over, she became a timekeeper there.  But that was my father’s only

            job.  He went there when he was nineteen, and worked there until he retired, in the stores area.

Kelsey:  And you worked in ordnance.

McWilliams:  Uh-huh.

Kelsey:  What did you do?

McWilliams:  I started out as a messenger, actually, with blueprints.  I did all the work with blueprints, taking them to

            different departments, wherever they needed them.  And after that, I became a file clerk in Building 171.

Kelsey:  And those were the two jobs that you had?

McWilliams:  Uh-huh.

Kelsey:  How old were you when you went to work?

McWilliams:  Sixteen.  Got married when I was seventeen.

Kelsey:  Did you graduate from high school?

McWilliams:  I left in my last year.  And don’t ask me why I did that, either, because I don’t know!  I had this thing about

            being in the war, and that you had to do something.  I was fortunate enough that I had parents that were lenient

            and let me do it.  But it worked out fine for me—it did work out fine.

Kelsey:  And were you glad that you did that?

McWilliams:  I was, yeah, because I had a good marriage, I have three children.  My husband died just before our fiftieth

            anniversary, so I had a good life.  I really had nothing to complain about.  So it was good.

Kelsey:  Did you work after the war at all?

McWilliams:  No, I was a homemaker all my life.  I was from a generation usually where the men—that was his job.  And

             I always had family around me, always family to take care of.  My mother lived with us after my father passed

             away, until she passed away.  So I always said I raised other people’s children, so I was content, I had a good

             life.

Kelsey:  When the war was over, [and you were in] Florida, where did you go after that?

McWilliams:  You mean when we left?  Well, he was in the service for another year, and then we came back.  We moved

            to Succasunna, and he built our home when we were going to have our first child.  And I’m still in that house.  A

            lot of additions on it all the way around—up down and around.  The house got bigger through the years as more

            people came.

Kelsey:  That’s terrific.

McWilliams:  One of my sons was in Vietnam.  I have two boys and one girl.

Kelsey:  That’s wonderful.

McWilliams:  And five grandchildren, and two-and-half great-grandchildren.  (laughter)

Kelsey:  That’s terrific!

McWilliams:  And I’ve really had a good life.  I can’t complain.

Kelsey:  Thank you for talking with us.

McWilliams:  Yeah.  And I’m still moving around, which is good!

Kelsey:  Yes, you are!  And very well, too.

McWilliams:  So it’s good.  But I just wanted to tell you, I was happy, all my family worked there.  I even had aunts that

             worked there.  So it was good.  And I’ve had a good day today, thank you very much.

Kelsey:  Good!  I’m glad.

[END OF INTERVIEW]