BY ANY OTHER NAME: THEY WENT HATHAWAY

When Martha Bronson decided to take a trip from her home in Riverside to Indian Caverns, she had her friend Mrs. Hathaway as her traveling companion. Along the way, they stopped in Mayfield to visit with Martha's niece June Cleaver and her family. (They were misdirected, but they eventually found their way to 485 Mapleton Drive.)

Mrs. Hathaway was the widow of a general who had been quite involved in governmental affairs, and she kept his memory alive by invoking his name constantly.

We met Mrs. Hathaway in 'Leave It To Beaver' episode "The Visiting Aunts". And although it wasn't stated in the episode, it is the opinion of all of the voices in my head that Mrs. Hathaway's first name was Margaret.

The reasoning for that is pure conjecture, but that's never stopped me before.....

While on her visit to Indian Caverns, Margaret Hathaway must have met a man with whom she fell in love, despite her devotion to the late General. His surname was Gettys, and he was visiting from Minnesota.

With the shared philosophical outlook that they weren't getting any younger, the two of them quickly married and Margaret Hathaway Gettys moved with her new husband from Riverside back to the "Twin Cities" area of Minnesota.

Even though she had a new man in her life, Margaret Gettys was still devoted to the memory of her first husband, General Hathaway. But she must have realized that talking about him in a state where he was not a known figure would serve little good. Instead, she decided to put into practice the principles espoused by her late husband.

Margaret Gettys decided to become politically active.

It probably began on the local level. ("All politics is local," said "Cheers" patron Tip O'Neill.) But she became more involved until eventually she ran for her district's seat in the United States Congress.

By the 1970's, Congresswoman Gettys was still in office... and being invited to disastrous parties at Mary Richards' apartments.

Finally, just a few theories of relateeveety: General Hathaway either had a younger sister or cousin named Jane Hathaway who lived in Beverly Hills, California. And Margaret had a twin sister who married a scientist named Dr. William Loren, a genius who created several androids.

SHOWS CITED:
'Leave It To Beaver' - "The Visiting Aunts"
'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' - "The Dinner Party" & "Mary's Big Party"
'The Beverly Hillbillies'
'The Twilight Zone' - "The Lateness Of The Hour"

BCnU!