Obituary of Mary Jane Bartels

Mary Jane Bartels was born in Yonkers, NY as the 4th child of Harold C. and Catherine Agnes (Linehan) Bartels on April 3, 1924. Miss Bartels was a pioneer career woman in the field of television journalism and an extraordinary role model to her 15 nieces and nephews, 25 great nieces and nephews, and 15 great-great nieces and nephews. Jane's career in Journalism began at age 9 with the single-issue publication of the Taylor Place edition of the South Orange News. At Oak Knoll School, Jane won, in competitive examination, a four-year scholarship to Rosemont College (PA). As a senior at Rosemont, Jane was editor of the college yearbook and associate editor of the student newspaper. Her professional career began at Life Magazine/TV with the responsibility of production details for the "Life in New York Television Series": "The Garment Industry", "City Health Problems", "I like New York", and "Survey of New York City's Problems". Later, at Sports Illustrated, Miss Bartels was Picture Editor, before joining CBS in 1955. Miss Bartels' career at CBS spanned over 30 years where she began as a researcher for the "Sunday News", with Ernest Leiser, and the Special Program unit with Leslie Midgley, which produced such outstanding programs as "The Face of Red China", which won George Foster Peabody and Emmy Awards and "World in Crisis", a Peabody Award winning examination of the Hungarian revolt and the Suez crisis. In 1959, Miss Bartels was appointed researcher on "Eyewitness to History", a series of special news programs, which evolved into the regularly scheduled "Eyewitness", devoted to the big news of the week and broadcast in prime evening time. A published interview in the Newark (NJ) News (January 1962) noted that in the previous year, Miss Bartels had traveled to Paris for CBS "Eyewitness" to do research on the House of Balmain for a program on Paris fashions, and to Vienna for President John F. Kennedy's meeting with Soviet Premier Nikita Krushchev. Miss Bartels advanced to Producer at CBS while working with Mike Wallace, Walter Cronkite, and Dan Rather on special reports such as an in-depth 12 year examination of the US role in Southeast Asia; "The American Assassins", an investigation into the assassinations of American political leaders; On The Road with Charles Kuralt, and a five part series in 1980, "America: Where Do We Go From Here?", covering the "new challenges to American power". Along the way, Miss Bartels was privileged to be present at many amazing moments in history: Christmas in the Holy Land; Kennedy at the Berlin Wall; the succession of Paul VI after the death of Pope John XXIII; the assassination of President John F. Kennedy; the Warren Commission, the "long hot summer of 1964" with the beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement, the blast-off of Space Shuttle 7, Challenger and in 1967 personally interviewing Lee Harvey Oswald's mother, Marguerite C. Oswald. Miss Bartels, as an associate producer, was awarded Honors for contributions to the Emmy Award winning program "CBS News Special Report: The Senate and the Watergate Affair", May 13, 1973. And then at the awards in 1978-79, Miss Bartels, as Producer with Bernard Birnbaum and Hal Haley, received the News and Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Program Achievement: IS ANYONE OUT THERE LEARNING-CBS REPORT CARD ON AMERICAN EDUCATION, August 22-24, 1978. Jane pursued painting as a hobby, even enrolling in a course at Limoges, France in the Art of Porcelain Painting. Although Jane's work took her to many places around the globe, she still enjoyed traveling extensively with her younger sister, Bernice. Together, they visited Italy several times for wine and food tours and Ireland for investigation of their ancestral roots. They also visited their sister Dorothy (Sister Mary Catherine de Ricci C.S.C.), who was on mission in both Brazil and Uganda. Jane was the last survivor of her immediate family. She was predeceased by her parents Harold and Catherine (Linehan) Bartels and her siblings: C Richard Bartels, Catherine Bartels Sedorowitz, Harold John Bartels, Joan Bartels Delay, Dorothy (Sr. Catherine de Ricci C.S.C.) Bartels, Rose Bernice Bartels, Rev. James Robert Bartels and Paul Joseph Bartels. She is survived by 15 nieces and nephews, 25 great nieces and nephews, and 15 great-great nieces and nephews.