Marion Crandell, born in Cedar Rapids, was the first American woman to die in the war zone during World War I. She spent several years in France and attended the Sorbonne University, then came to Davenport in 1916 to teach at St. Katharine’s School. After the war began, she offered her services to the YMCA division that aided French soldiers and arrived in Paris in February 1918. She was killed on March 27 when a German artillery shell struck the building where she was lodging, and she was buried in a French military cemetery.