MARY JOHNSON TWEEDY

NEW YORK -- Mary Johnson Tweedy, 80, formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Saturday, Dec. 2, 1995, at her home in Manhattan section of New York City.

Tweedy, who was born in Cape Girardeau, married Gordon Bradford Tweedy in 1944. He preceded her in death in 1985.

She was the first woman correspondent for Time magazine. She joined the company in 1936 after moving to New York. She headed the magazine's education department from 1953 to 1965.

Tweedy graduated from Southeast Missouri State College, where her father was chairman of the mathematics department. She and her husband endowed the Benjamin Franklin Johnson Math and Computer Center, the Carrie Woodburn Johnson Library endowment and the Johnson Faculty Center at Southeast Missouri State University.

She was involved in education worldwide and served on advisory boards in Turkey and Thailand, in addition to those in New York and Massachusetts.

She was a member of the "Caterpillar Club," which is open to people who have been forced to parachute to save their lives.

Tweedy and her husband parachuted into the snow-covered Himalayas when their plane was lost en route to Kashmir. The story was published in Life magazine after the birth of her first child. Tweedy was four months pregnant at the time she jumped from the plane.

Survivors include three daughters, Clare McMorris and Margot Tweedy, both of New York City, and Ann Savage of Scotland and New York; a sister, Frances Tyler of Highgate Springs, Vt.; and three grandchildren.