Marion O'Brien was born in 1917. She grew up in Indiana, surrounded by machines and technology. Her father and uncle created the "South Bend lathe" for grinding gears. Marion spent much of her childhood at their workplace after her mother died at age seven.
Marion moved to Philadelphia's Rosemont College. After earning a BA in English Literature in 1939, she joined Vogue magazine as an Assistant Beauty Editor in 1940. In 1941, she married leather importer James Donovan, quit her job, had a family, and relocated to Connecticut.
Marion’s motherhood inspired her to rekindle her creative impulses. She like all mothers, struggled with her babies' exasperating habit of wetting her sheets. A waterproof diaper cover was Marion’s first breakthrough in 1946. Using her sewing machine, she created a leakproof diaper cover that didn't cause diaper rash like the rubber baby pants of the day. Newborns (and parents) are eternally grateful for this invention. She had replaced safety pins with plastic snaps in the finished product, which was made of nylon parachute cloth. To no surprise, the diaper covers were an instant hit at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York. Marion received her patent in 1951. The disposable paper diaper was her next big idea. Marion devised a robust, absorbent paper composition after considerable trial and error.
For suggesting such an unneeded and unworkable item, she was ridiculed by big American paper firms. Marion, meanwhile, was back in class. Yale University in 1958 awarded her an Architecture degree. In 1980, she designed her own home in Greenwich, Connecticut, but she had already devised numerous practical solutions for everyday issues. She also invented an elastic cord that connected over the shoulder to the zipper on the back of a dress, thus eliminating the need for contortionism to put on most women's dress clothes.
In her life, Marion received a dozen patents. She was a product development consultant for a long time. When she died in 1998, she finally got her recognition. Despite her lack of fame, Marion has helped many new parents.