US Navy Lt. Commander Lacy Lee "Mac" McColloch was born in Fullerton, Orange County, California on April 8, 1913, the son of Stephen Wilcox McColloch (1871-1943) and Ada May Montgomery (1875-1958). His father supported his family farming on his citrus ranch in Fullerton, Orange, California. Lacy would graduate from Fullerton Union High School in 1931 followed by an enrollment in the University of California at Berkley. He left college in his third year ij 1937 and enlisted in the US Navy. In 1939, he was an aviation cadet stationed aboard the USS Saratoga and upon graduation was commissioned an Ensign and stationed in Norfolk, Virginia on the USS Wasp. Before he reported in for duty he made time to marry Sarah Ethel Jones from Century, Florida on 6-24-1939. She graduated from Century High School and was the daughter of James Houston Jones (1878-1972) and Idonia Sawyer (1878-1976) as well as the sister of Carl and Hugh Jones.
After Pearl Harbor, he was stationed aboard the USS Copahee as a naval pilot. The ship's mission was to transport planes, stores, and personnel to ports in the South Pacific. He was then deployed to Escort Scouting Squadron 16 (VF-33) at Munda and flying the F6F Hellcat. While fighting over Guadalcanal on February 2, 1943, McColloch radioed that he was headed back to the ship and low on fuel. He was never heard from or seen again. He was listed as missing in action, which was later changed to killed in action. Ethel was living at 1409 North 10th Avenue at the time where she received the telegram informing her that he was missing in action. His body was never recovered and today rests at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, the grave of so many of our naval aviators who paid the ultimate sacrifice. He was finally declared officially dead on December 6, 1945 and his named etched on the memorial of the missing at Fort William Mckinley, Manila, Philippines. Ethel received his Purple Heart and was forced to go on with her life.
She would marry LCDR Anthony Joseph Schultheis, Sr. on January 27, 1946 in Lillian Alabama. Both are buried in the Shiloh Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery in Frisco City, AL.
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