Women’s History Month featuring Mary Joanne Kilbane
Were you delivered by Dr. Irvin Kilbane either at home or in a hospital? Do you know the story about the woman behind the doctor?
In commemoration of Women’s History Month, Historic Murphysburg Preservation, Inc. presents the life and work of Mary Joanne “Jo” Booher Kilbane, also known to the Joplin community as Dr. Irvin Kilbane’s wife, nurse, and assistant. Jo was born in Cerro Gordo, Illinois in 1927. She claimed to have been born in the same bed in which her mother was born. She attended high school in Peoria, Illinois. Jo married Bernard Rosenak in 1945 and they moved to Joplin in 1952.
According to Joplin City Directories, Jo worked at Reserve Life Insurance in 1963. When Joplin General Hospital at 521 W. 4th Street closed in 1963, Dr. Kilbane moved his medical practice to his house at 420 S. Byers Avenue. In 1964 Jo started as a laboratory technician at Dr. Kilbane’s office, and in 1965 her job was listed as a receptionist. Jo and Irv were married on September 8, 1966. She completed her education and received her License Practical Nursing certification and license from the Missouri State Board of Nursing in 1971. Jo assisted her husband in his medical practice until he retired in 2003. Irv was born in 1915 and passed away in 2005.
Lori and Jeremy Haun, current owners of the Kilbane’s former house and medical office, proudly display the doctor’s sign in the house.
Jo brought five children to the marriage and Irv brought three, but through the years, the couple fostered many children. In a Joplin Globe interview published on July 21, 2002, Jo tells the following story: “Irv delivered the baby, a girl. The mother was single and white. [The baby’s father was African American.] She was dealing with some family issues and felt she couldn’t cope with raising a baby. She and the baby stayed with us for a while.” When the mother decided to join the military, she left the baby with the Kilbanes. “We had her for seven years and felt like she was ours. We were in the process of trying to adopt her when the mother came home and decided to take her back.”
Irv never converted to the Jewish faith, but because he was a member of a Jewish family, he is buried with Jo in the Jewish section at Mount Hope Cemetery in Webb City, and both of their names were placed on the “In Memoriam” plaque at the temple in Joplin.
Jo was active in the United Hebrew Congregation and the Temple Aid Sisterhood. The Sisterhood sponsored bake sales, cookbook sales, and food fairs. Jo was particularly known for her homemade cheesecakes, making around 50 cakes every year for friends, family, and bake sales. Often times the cheesecakes were garnished with pansies from her yard.
The Kilbanes were also considered an “interfaith couple”— Jo was Jewish and Irv was a Methodist. What would have been a major challenge for any blended family, Jo and Irv made it work with a sophisticated schedule. According to a Joplin Globe interview with Jo printed on June 22, 1997, she said Irv attended temple (United Hebrew Congregation Temple at 702 S. Sergeant) with her on Friday evenings when he wasn’t delivering babies. On Sunday, he dropped her children off at temple for Hebrew lessons, then took his children to St. James Methodist Church for Sunday school. Irv then returned home for Jo and she accompanied him to Sunday church services. The Kilbanes celebrated both Christmas and Hanukkah while their children were young.
The former Oak Hill Hospital in Joplin—where Dr. Kilbane served as chief of staff—also benefited from Jo’s volunteer service through the hospital’s auxiliary. The auxiliary staffed a gift shop, held ham and bean suppers, spaghetti-chili dinners, bazaars, art auctions, bake sales, ice cream socials, and made tray favors for patients. The money raised by the auxiliary funded the purchase of medical and educational equipment and supplies needed at the hospital.
In 1979 the Newburger building was razed and the City built a new structure that stands today. Carver School eventually closed in 2004 due to the lack of sufficient income and the expansion of the Head Start program.
For many years she was a volunteer and board member of George Washington Carver Memorial Nursery School, formerly located at 520 S. School Avenue in Joplin’s Ewert Park. The school was formed for children of working Black families. The mission was eventually expanded to include all children. According to a Joplin Globe article on May 4, 1952 when the school moved into the Newburger Community House, the concept of the school started around 1926 on the “…dreams and hopes of the Negro citizens…” Prior to the donation of land and money by Viola Newman Newburger and her late husband, Gabe Newburger, the school was held in a pavilion at Ewert Park.
Another example of Jo’s commitment to education was as a board member of Women in Community Service, Inc. (WICS). WICS was started in Joplin in June 1966 by the National Councils of Church Women United to serve as Job Corps recruiters to help find jobs for underprivileged girls 16 to 21 years old. Jo represented the Council of Jewish Women on the WICS board. Also on the board was Minnie Hackney representing the Council of Negro Women. Girls attending Job Corps training centers were given transportation, room and board, some clothing, medical and dental expenses and $30 a month. Girls were accepted for the Job Corps who had completed high school, but who had not obtained job skills, or who had dropped out of school. Girls in the centers who had not completed high school could acquire an equivalent to a high school diploma.
Amber Ashby grew up at 419 S. Moffet, across the alley to the west of the Kilbane home and office. She worked for Dr. Kilbane for over 18 years up to his retirement. Her sister, Deanna Doss also worked for the doctor. When interviewed for this story, Amber said, “Jo was a one-of-a-kind lady, very unique, and you always knew where you stood with her.”
Amber further stated, “The yard was another love of Jo’s; it was always well manicured and one year she had hundreds of tulips planted along with pansies, rose bushes, and peonies.” In June of 1996, the Kilbane yard was part of a garden tour featuring bird houses, perennial beds, window boxes, and container planting.
Jo was also known for their collection of antiques: furniture, children’s toys and furniture, clothes, musical instruments, kitchen utensils, miniature figures, fine china, sewing machines, portraits, photographs on tin plates…and 35 stoves. At their Murphysburg home, there was at least one antique stove in every room.
Amber further reported, “If anyone else had such a large collection of antiques in their house, it would look like a hoarder lived there, but Jo made the house look like a livable museum.” She would have a small trinket box or basket sitting on a table with smaller trinkets inside. “There was never an empty ‘anything’ in the house.”
Mary Joanne passed away in 2013 after a long struggle with Alzheimer Disease—and after a long history of family and community service. According to her obituary in The Joplin Globe, “Her home was always open, and there was always room at her table and a brisket in the freezer [ready to cook for company, events, or funerals.] She gave her children and grandchildren her infectious joy and sense of humor for the human condition, and encouraged and supported each of them to be whoever they wanted to be.”
HISTORY OF THE HOUSE AT 420 S. BYERS AVENUE & ITS DOCTORS
The red brick house was built around 1890 in the Queen Anne style and was designed by the local architect, C. W. Kellog. The first owner of this elaborate house was a dry goods merchant, Simon Schwartz and his wife Hennie.
The second owner, John Graham (1872-1917) was a wholesale grocer and horse lover. In 1898, Mr. Graham constructed an elegant brick stable at the back of the property to accommodate his beloved horses.
The next owner, Dr. Samuel Ashby Grantham (1866-1938), housed his medical office in the parlor of the main house but in 1916, relocated it to the stable. Dr. Grantham, an orthopedic surgeon, constructed a blacksmith shop above the office where he could make the pins and braces he needed for his many patients. When Dr. Grantham died, his younger son, Sam, took over the practice.
Dr. Irvine Kilbane (1915-2005) purchased the house and “stable” on September 22, 1963, just four days after Joplin General Hospital closed, most likely with the plan of moving his practice to Dr. Grantham’s former medical office. Through the years, he made house calls and answered late night emergencies. He provided immunizations, conducted examinations, performed lab work, and did minor surgeries at his home office. Jo’s job was to make sure the clinic (and her husband!) operated smoothly.
After Dr. Kilbane’s death, and after Jo moved out of the house, the Kilbane/Rosenak children auctioned off the house and its contents in 2007.
