The United States entered World War II on December 7, 1941, with MacLean still at the helm, and Seldon Coombs stepped into the shoes of Karl Heckrich, who retired after 26 years of service as the club’s first athletic director.

Clarence Kirkland, an officer of Northern Pacific Railroad, was president through most of the WWII years, from 1942 to 1945. By 1943, 154 club members had joined the service and the sons and daughters of hundreds more served, too. Severe rationing of food and club supplies changed the usual way of life at the MAC. Even coal, used to heat the clubhouse then, was rationed. All club athletic facilities were offered to the army, navy and marine corps for officer training courses. New places—Cavite, Bataan, Corregidor, Leyte, Midway and Manila—became part of everyday vocabulary. Many MACers, like Earl Maul followed by Charles Van Nest as head of the Minneapolis Ration Board and Judge Frank Reed as head of the Minneapolis air raid wardens, did war-related volunteer work.

In 1943 the MAC hired Fred Andrew as general manager in charge of all operations. A highly skilled and experienced club manager, he proved a tremendous asset, shepherding the club through the balance of the war and into the post-war era. Through remodeling of the entire clubhouse during his 23 years, the MAC maintained one of the most productive athletic club operations in the country with highly efficient services and facilities for its members.

Another happy occurrence during the war years was the burning of the original mortgage by President Kirkland, assisted by founder Charles Fowler, on January 16, 1943, after 30 long years of payment. Seven hundred members attended.

Paul von Kuster, longtime head of David C. Bell Company, was MAC president on VE Day, May 8, 1945, and when the way with Japan ended on August 6, 1945. He and the Board of Directors immediately allotted $200,000 for remodeling, first to sandblast the clubhouse exterior. Then they remodeled the 12th-floor grill and renamed it the Cavalier Room. They also remodeled the main dining room, lobby, library, the director’s room and the gymnasium.