Ethel “Makey” Jane Moran was born on November 16th 1878 in Queron, Loire Inferior, France to William Lewis Morgan a Welsh man; and Catherine Ann Reece, and English woman. She and her three sisters traveled the world with their father who was a metallurgist opening mines. She married Charles Gilbert Sperry Sr on 12 Sept 1905 in Pasadena, CA. Charles died in 1942. During her time at Cal Tech in the midst of WWII, Ethel worked as part of the Inspection Group, of which I.B. Beadle was the group leader. This group was part of Section V (Propellants and Interior Ballistics), under the direction of Dr. Bruce Sage. The tenure of her work evolved from the rocket work to fuse work, to include Project Camel. In support of Project Camel, she may very well have been part of the inspections of the fuses used in test, practice (via the “pumpkin” Fat Man surrogates), and even possibly the two combat weapons. In 1950 She worked as a practical nurse at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, CA.
Ethel Moran passed away on the 6th of November, 1969 in Newport Beach, CA.