MATAGORDA CO. BOASTS MANY WAR MARRIAGES

Many Meet Through Travel Caused By Military Service
 

This article appeared in the Servicemen’s Edition, Supplement of the Daily Tribune – The Matagorda County Tribune, April 22, 1943. A copy of this newspaper is in the Matagorda County Museum Archives, Bay City, Texas. 

      Among the changes affecting the lives of Matagorda County families which have taken place since war broke out are the dozens of marriages entered into by the young men and women of the community. Many a fine man in the armed forces of the United States has his own private War Department in the person of a charming wife from Matagorda County. Some of these marriages are the culmination of a courtship of long standing, some were hastened by the imminent departure of the groom for active duty, and not a few romances were brought about by the propinquity of Camp Hulen!

      In several instances, men of our county have found their Ideal Girl near the post where they were stationed, and Matagorda County is glad to welcome to its fold these wives, as it does the men from afar who have met and succumbed to the charms of Bay City girls.

      Of the War Brides of Matagorda County, those married since Pearl Harbor, some are living near where their husbands are stationed and some are staying at home, carrying on as best they can to hasten the glorious day of Victory, “When Johnny comes marching home.” Recorded below in chronological order are many of the marriages of local girls and men in the service.

      Dec. 27, 1941―Miss Elizabeth Harris of Angleton and Sgt. Jack Wesley Young of Bay City were married in Galveston. The groom was in the Air Force, stationed at Brooks Field at the time. The bride continued in her position in Angleton after the honeymoon.

      Dec. 31, 1941―Miss May Belle Anderson of Bay City married Cpl. Hayden Harper of Markham. The groom was stationed in Brownsville, and the bride remained at home a time before joining him.

      Jan. 7, 1942―Miss Annette Lescoe, daughter of Mrs. H. A. Norcross of Bay City, married Lt. Richard W. Clement in Tampa, Florida.

      Jan. 24, 1942―Miss Mary Frank Carr of Bay City married William L. Burnell of Houston, reserve lieutenant who has since been called to active duty.

      Feb. 14, 1942―Miss Alma Stewart, County Home Demonstration agent, married Charles Richard Hale of Wharton. Mr. Hale, is now Seaman First Class in the U. S. Coast Guard.

      March 2, 1942―Mrs. Vannie Horne married Sgt. Gordon L. Yates of Glasgow, Kentucky, in the 106th Battalion Chapel at Camp Hulen.

      March 21, 1942―Miss Naomi Jones was married to Lt. Earl L. Rainer in Fresno, California. Both are former Bay Citians.

      April 4, 1942―Miss Lucille Sanders was married to Sgt. John R. Willis of Foster Field in Victoria.

      May 1, 1942―Miss Mary Rossman of Las Vegas, Nevada, married Sgt. Roy Lee Anderson of Bay City, in the bride’s home town.

      June 2, 1942―Miss Maurine Steves married Ensign Max E. Rohe in Bay City. The bride is the sister of Bert Steves.

      June 8, 1942―Miss Theresa Maxwell, former teacher in Bay City, married Staff Sgt. Donald F. Vincent of Malden, Mass., in Seattle, Washington.

      June 14, 1942―Miss Janice Yeager married Photographer Third Class Don Sailor in Washington, D.C.

      June 19, 1942―Miss Geraldine Livengood married Lt. David G. Bearse of Massachusetts in San Francisco. Lt. Bearse had been stationed at Camp Hulen with the 211th C.A.

      June 21, 1942―Miss Sarah Blackwood married Morris L. Heath, former corporal at Camp Hulen who was released from the army for occupational necessity. Mr. and Mrs. Heath went to Springfield, Mass., to live.

      July 20, 1942―Miss Annie Porter married Pfc. Terril Pierce of Mobile, Alabama. Private Pierce was stationed at Camp Hulen with the 105th C.A. Battalion, but had been transferred to California some time previous to the wedding, which took place in Bay City.

      July 24, 1942―Miss Lorna Greer of Cleveland, Ohio, married Lt. Joseph Arthur Fryou of Bay City in Charleston, S.C. They had met in Denver, Colorado, where the bride was attending college and the groom received his commission in the Air Force.

      August 14, 1942―Miss Etta Elizabeth Pruett married Pvt. John L. Newman of Houston and Bay City. He was sent overseas only a few weeks after induction.

      August 16, 1942―Mrs. Ethel Deming married Sgt. Jim E. Pace of Randolph Field, in Robstown at the home of the bride’s sister.

      August 29, 1942―Miss Ruth Petersen of Palacios married Lt. John M. Glaros at Camp Polk, La. This was the first wedding performed in the 11th Armored Division, which was activated Aug. 15.

      September 4, 1942―Miss Margaret Alice Cox married Sgt. Charles Victor DeLerno of New Orleans, who was stationed at Camp Hulen Station Hospital.

      Sept. 17, 1942―Miss Helen Dukon, daughter of Mrs. W. A. Rolley of Longville, La., married Cpl. Samuel A. Rice of Bay City.

      October 2, 1942―Miss Mary Anne Davant married Ensign Thomas Eugene Dunham of Houston at her home in Bay City.

      October 26, 1942―Miss Jeanne Poole became the bride of Lt. George Richard Keen Jr., at the home of the bride. The young couple resided in Nashville, Tenn., for a time and then went to Florida.

      October 17, 1942―Miss Mary Katherine Heffner of Winfield, Kansas, married Aviation Cadet B. (Bud) Shiflet, former Bay City resident.

      October 19, 1942―Miss Ellen Franzen of Collegeport married Pvt. Billy B. Bryan of Lone Oak, Texas, in that city.

      December 8, 1942―Miss Alice Jean Zboril of Bay City married Sgt. Elo J. Havran of Camp Hulen.

      December 9, 1942―Mrs. Helen H. Rugeley married Lt. Harold F. Marrs of Boston in New York City. Lt. Marrs had been stationed at Camp Hulen with the 211th C.A., but after being commissioned, was stationed at Camp Stewart, Georgia.

      December 20, 1942―Miss Beth Anderson married Sgt. A. J. Hale of Texarkana, who was stationed at Camp Hulen, until his transfer to New Orleans a month before the wedding.
 

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