My journey ends here...
McKEE-GODDARD Grace
Born Clara Grace Emma Atchinson
Date of birth : January 1, 1894, Great Falls, Montana.
Date of death : September 28, 1953, Los Angeles, California.
Portrait 
,
,
Addresses
* 1920 : 117 North Benton Avenue, Los Angeles.
* 1921 to 1923 : 1211 Hyperion Avenue (with Gladys Baker) 
* 1928 : 237 Birmini Place, Los Angeles (with her sisters Enid and Allis)
* 1929 : 6228 De Longpre Avenue, Los Angeles (with Gladys Baker)
* 1935 : Lodi Place, Los Angeles
* 1935 : 6707 Odessa Avenue, Van Nuys (with Doc Goddard)
* 1937 : 10941 Ayres Avenue, Los Angeles
* 1937 : 3107 Barbara
Court, Hollywood (with Doc Goddard)(
)
* 1940 : 11 336 Nebraska Avenue, Los Angeles (with Doc Goddard and Norma Jeane 
)
* 1941 : 14 743
Archwood Street, Van Nuys (with Doc Goddard)
* 1941 : (September) 6707 Odessa Avenue, Van Nuys
,
,
,
,
,
-
,
,
* 1942 : 322, Wilson Court, Huntigton, Virginia.
* 1950-1953 : 6707 Odessa
Avenue, Van Nuys (
).
Profession she checked the work in the negative cutting-room at the Consolidated
Film Industries.
Story
Her parents were William Wallace Atchinson (December 2, 1859, Michigan -1925, Los Angeles)
(
) and Emma J.Willett (March 1868, Montana-1921, Los Angeles)
(
).
She had 4 brothers and sisters, among them Enid Vernie Knebelkamp.
Her paternal aunt was Ana Lower.
On February 17, 1913, she married Asher Ewing Service (November 6, 1884, Pennsylvania-May 29, 1966, Los
;
;
) in Fresno, California (
,
). The marriage lasted less than 2 years.
On February 2, 1915, she married Reginald Ayres Evans (January 31, 1894, Paola, Kansas
-January 21, 1919. 
), in Los Angeles, a 21 year-old garageman 
-
-
.
In 1917, his husband was employed by the Shell Oil Company (
).
He died of a viral pneumonia, only aged 24 (
).
On June 12, 1920, Grace married in Los Angeles, John Wallace McKee, a draftsman (July 9, 1897,
California-January 26, 1954, Los Angeles 
)(
,
)
One of the witness was Merritt Bryan Atchinson, Grace's brother.
Grace appeared uneder the name "Clara Grace Evans", "widowed" and that it was her "second marriage".
She didn't live much long with McKee, even if several years passed before the divorce would be granted.
1923, she worked at the Consolidated Film Industries.
This is where she met Gladys Baker and they became friends (
).
She then worked as an editor for several motion pictures studios(
,
,
,
,).
End of Summer 1923, Gladys and Grace shared an apartment, 1211 Hyperion Avenue, East Hollywood.
1933-1934, she often visited Gladys, at Arbol Street.
1935, Grace made the required process and became Norma Jeane's guardian, Gladys having been hospitalized and declared unfit.
,
;
,
After having dealt with Gladys papers, and sold Gladys house (June 26, 1935 for $4839), she placed Norma Jeane to the Giffens, before taking her at her place, at Lodi Place.
On March 25, 1935, she stated under oath being the ideal candidate to become Norma Jeane's guardian.
Spring 1935, Grace
met Doc
Goddard. He was 10 years younger than her 
.
On August 10, 1935, they got married in Las Vegas 
,
She stayed at one of her aunt's house, Minnie Willette (Emma Atchinson's sister) who was their bridesmaid.
On September 13, 1935, she dropped Norma Jeane off at the Los Angeles orphanage (815 North El Centro)
(
); that was the legal process for Grace to become her guardian.
Norma Jeane had the number 3463.
But she didn't give the girl up. She visited her often, took her for lunch, went to the movie theatre, gave her small presents.
On February 26, 1936, she officially apply for becoming Norma Jeane's Guardian.
On March 27, 1936, she obtained Norma Jeane's guardianship 
.
In October 1936, a year after she entered the orphanage, Grace came and picked Norma Jeane up. She lived
with the Goddards at 3107 Barbara Court, then at Nebraska avenue (
).
For her part, Grace was paid $20 a month
Norma Jeane lived there for a year. After Doc's indecent assault, in November 1937, she took Norma Jeane to live at Ida Martin's, her uncle Marion Monroe's mother-in-law. She lived with her cousins until July 1938.
She then lived with Ana Lower. Norma Jeane came back to the Goddards when Ana Lower's health prevented her from looking after the girl.
1940, during one of her stays at the Goddards (Archwood Street), Norma Jeane became friends with Bebe
(Doc's daughter and Grace's stepdaughter)(
,
).
In September 1941, the Goddards moved in Odessa Avenue (the house was owned by Ana Lower).
Expenses for Norma Jeane for 
.
She asked Jim Dougherty, son of her friend and former neighbor, Ethel Dougherty, to take Bebe and Norma Jeane to school, because, from then on, they lived too far for the girls to go by foot; Jim, working at night, was available during the day.
In April 1942, Doc was transfered in Huntington, Virginia.
In 1943 Grace worked
in Chicago in a cinematic laboratory but Doc still lived in
Virginia; Grace would have left because she had problems with alcohol.
Norma Jeane stayed in touch with her and sent her the money she earned
at the Radio
Plane Munitions Factory, to help her; she would visit her in Chicago and, during this trip, would visit Doc and Bebe in Virginia.
June 15, 1944, Norma
Jeane wrote to her. It was 7 weeks that Jim had left to
Asia; Norma Jeane seemed satisifed with her soldier's wife role,
waiting for his return :
"Of course I know that if it hadn't been for you we might not have ever been married and I know I owe you a lot for that fact alone, besides countless others....I love Jimmie just more than anyone (..) and I know I shall never be happy with anyone else as long as I live and I know he feels the same towards me. So you see we are really very happy together that is of course when we can be together. We both miss each other terribly".
Letter
,
She also wrote to her on December 3, 1944 
and on June 4, 1945 
,
Circa 1944, in West Virginia 
In June 1946, Grace and her family came back to California.
Pictures Summer 1946 
;
-
Then, there were only few meetings.
Between 1949 and 1951, Marilyn visited her but was also very affected by ravages alcohol had caused to Grace.
-
Check from Marilyn to "Mrs E.S.Goddard" dated April 8, 1952 : 
.
Check from Marilyn to "Grace Goddard" dated April 26, 1952 : 
.
Check from Marilyn to Grace, dated February 4, 1953 : 
.
On July 4, 1953, Grace
wrote to Berniece
Miracle, Marilyn's
sister, with who she kept in touch. In her letter, Grace informed
her she had a cancer and she had to have an hysterectomy.
Letter dated July 8, 1953 
Letter dated August 25, 1953, Grace wrote to Marilyn who was shooting "River of No Return", because Gladys
had to be hospitalized and that costed some money, Grace needed $600.
.
On September 28, 1953,
Grace was found unconscious on the bed of her small bungalow in Van
Nuys: she was transferred to the Los Angeles General Hospital, where
she died of a phenobarbital overdose (barbiturates), after years
of alcoholism which had weakened her.
Death certificate 
Police report 
Chemical analysis 
The funeral took place on October 1, 1953 at the Westwood
Memorial Park 
,
,
.
Marilyn and Berniece thought that Grace had died from her uterus
cancer, but Berniece would ask for Grace death certificate in 1979, and saw that the cause of death was a suicide by a barbiturate overdose.
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