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Cathy Connors was born in
Indiana, to Major Francis Xavier Connors and Mary Margaret O’Neill. She was the
youngest of five children and the only girl. Unfortunately for Cathy, her mother
passed away when she was born, leaving the infant in the care of her father and
brothers. She was seven years younger then her next sibling, so she was raised
in a household full of men.
Her rearing served her well. in one sense. It quickly made her self-sufficient,
determined, and strong. Physically, she was a petite woman, but she had a
determined nature. She had a head of curly brown hair, fiery green eyes and it
was her eyes that seemed to attract people to her. She often said she was
ordinary in looks, but her personality made up for any “Ordinary-ness.”
She left home after she
graduated from High School and attended Junior College, earning her Associate of
Arts Degree in Office Management. She then went to work for a large
corporation, and found, quickly, that she didn’t like the corporate world. She
finally opted for entering the Military.
She chose the Navy, so
that she could be as far from her father’s haunts as she could possibly get. If
the truth were known, she actually had a strong dislike for the Army and Army
ways. She had also been intrigued and impressed by one of her father’s long-time
friends, Admiral Harriman Nelson. Cathy had met Nelson and gotten to know him
slightly, over several of the Army-Navy game weekends, that the two men had
attended together over the years. Cathy often went with them, partially because
of her age and partially due to the fact that her father had no one to leave her
with. As a young child, she had come to respect and admire Nelson and his
vision, something that he often shared with Frank Connors, before and after the
legendary football games.
She entered the Navy as
an ensign and was quickly assigned clerical duties, something commonly done at
that time. Yet, because of her innate ability to organize and run an office, she
quickly rose in both rank and responsibility, coming to head the office of
Ship’s Stores at the Norfolk Naval Station.
It was at Norfolk that
she renewed her acquaintance with Harriman Nelson. The Admiral was spending a
lot of his time at the base, preparing for his retirement and beginning the
steps to build his Institute, and the boat that he dreamed of. Along the way, he
caught Cathy up in that dream. When Nelson realized that he needed an efficient
and organized person to run his offices and other things, he tapped Cathy
Connors for the position, and brought her to the new Institute, reserve status
and all.
Cathy took on the
fledgling organization with a gusto, organizing and reorganizing the offices and
staff to her liking, and Nelson’s absolute pleasure. She was a plank owner of
the Seaview, her status as Director of Ship’s Stores making her the only
land-based crew member.
Years later, after
Seaview was built, Captain John Philips, the boat's captain, was murdered,
in an attempt on Admiral Nelson's life. He was well loved and his death was a
shock to all at the Institute. A replacement for an upcoming mission was
necessary, and the entire staff and crew was prepared not to like
whoever was brought in to replace him, Cathy among the most vocal in that
group. Then, Lee Crane appeared on the scene to captain the boat, and the
attitude of all but a few rapidly changed. Even Cathy had to give the boat’s new
Captain her grudging respect. The man always did the right thing, often to his
own detriment, and physical danger. By some, though, he was thought of as
stubborn, unbending, and at times, downright insensitive.
However, things began to
change after one particularly horrific incident, where Lee Crane was
deliberately blinded by Dr. Gamma. For a long time, it was thought that Crane
would be blind for the rest of his life, and the Institute family rallied round
the boat’s Captain in order to help him adapt to his new life, without the
Seaview. Through an accident of fate, or simple good fortune, Crane’s
sight returned and the friendship that he and Cathy had begun, blossomed into a
romance. Not that the path to the altar was smooth sailing, however.
At one point, Cathy broke
off her relationship with Crane (due to his 'inability' to commit) and became
engaged to one Lt. Cdr. Fred Roberts. Roberts had been assigned to the
temporary command staff of the Seaview, but was, in reality, a mole,
placed there by the First American Militia (FAM). After the incident, in which
Roberts nearly succeeded in taking the boat, Nelson, and Crane, and turning them
over to his companions, Cathy found her way back to Crane (who finally saw the
light) and the two of them were finally married.
A year after the wedding,
their son, Robert Charles Harriman Crane, was born. Eighteen months later, Cathy
Connors Crane died, as the result of a plot by the People’s Republic, to prevent
Lee Crane from doing a retrieval of a high ranking political individual, who was
defecting to the United States. Cathy Connors Crane was mourned by all who knew
her, in and outside the Institute, and Lee Crane, devastated by her death,
withdrew into a deep shell, that took several years for him to recover from.
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