Grace MacNeil, Alan J. Hagenbuch
Grace MacNeil
Girl Scout official
NATCHEZ, Miss. – Grace Mansfield Surget McKittrick MacNeil, a former resident of Princeton, died June 30 in Natchez. She was 92.
She was long involved with the Girl Scouts, on the national and international levels, as well as in Princeton.
While a resident of Princeton she also was president of the Episcopal Church of Women of Trinity Church, president of the Present Day Club and a member of the Princeton Historical Society. She also served on the board of trustees of Miss Fine’s School and was president of the board at the time of the reorganization of the school as Princeton Day School.
Mrs. MacNeil was a graduate of Northampton School for Girls in Northampton, Mass., and Sophie Newcomb Memorial College of Tulane University in New Orleans, La.
Her involvement with the Girl Scouts began in 1930 when she joined the professional staff of Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. as a member of the field department. She resigned as a national staff member in 1938 to raise a family, and returned to Girl Scouts a year later as a volunteer with the Princeton Girl Scout Council (subsequently Mercer County). She was elected president of the council in 1940 and served until 1942 in this capacity.
In 1950, she was appointed to membership on the national Community Relations Committee of the Girl Scouts and chaired that committee from 1953 to 1958. She also held membership on the national Public Relations Committee from 1953 to 1958.
Following election to the National Board of Directors in 1955, she assumed the duties of the third vice president in 1960, and of first vice president in 1963. In 1969, she was elected president. During her tenure, 1969-72, Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. strengthened its commitment to reach out to serve all girls. Other highlights of her presidency included National Council action lowering the age limit of its voting members to 14, and the rewording of the traditional Girl Scout Promise and Law to make them more relevant to girls.
In 1960, she chaired the Girl Scout delegation to the White House Conference on Children and Youth. In 1969 and 1972, she was a member of the U.S. delegations to the World Conference of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS).
After her presidency, she was elected a member of the WAGGGS World Committee, serving from 1972 to 1978. From 1979 to 1993, she served as a member of the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace Advisory Group. On her 90th birthday, she was named an honorary member of the Olave Baden-Powell Society, which recognizes international leadership and contributions to Scouting.
Upon her return to Natchez, she became active in the Natchez Historical Society and was a founding member of the Historic Natchez Foundation. She served on the board of trustees for Trinity Episcopal Day School and on the board of directors of the Mississippi Historical Society. She was a past president of the Natchez Garden Club and an active member of Trinity Episcopal Church.
Mrs. MacNeil was the owner and operator of MacNeil Plantations, instituting land, timber and wildlife management and conservation practices that were recognized with several awards.
Daughter of the late David Lawrence McKittrick and Charlotte Linton Surget McKittrick, wife of the late Douglas Harrison MacNeil, she is survived by daughters Elizabeth Chalfant MacNeil Boggess and Anne Worthington Surget MacNeil, both of Natchez; grandson Douglas Harrison MacNeil Boggess and his wife, Katharine Kirkman Moore Boggess, of Albuquerque, N.M.; and great-grandsons, Stuart MacNeil Kirkman Boggess and Martin Surget Moore Boggess, also of Albuquerque.
Funeral services were held July 3.
Alan J. Hagenbuch
Seminary graduate
ENTERPRISE, Ala. – The Rev. Dr. Alan J. Hagenbuch died June 24 at the Medical Center Enterprise after an apparent heart attack. He was 67.
Dr. Hagenbuch was a native of New Jersey and lived in Enterprise the past five years.
He received a bachelor’s degree from Western Maryland University and a master’s of divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary. He received his doctorate of ministry from Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary, Gettysburg, Pa.
He became an ordained Presbyterian minister in 1958, serving in churches in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Florida and Alabama.
He served at the Green Hill Presbyterian Church in Enterprise the past five years. He was serving as a part-time faculty member at Enterprise State Junior College, teaching religion and philosophy.
He survived by his mother, Louise Hagenbuch of Carlisle, Pa.; his wife, Dr. Elaine Gallaspy Hagenbuch of Enterprise; daughter Deborah Myers of Boca Raton, Fla.; sons Alan J. of Alpharetta, Ga. and John of Yakima, Wash.; sister Jean Kretzing of Carlisle; brother Paul of Carlisle; six grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.
The funeral was held June 27.
Donations may be made to the Green Hill Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 310637, Enterprise, AL 36311.
Arrangements are by the Patterson-Sorrells Funeral Home, Enterprise.