Friday, November 21, 2014

Friday's Faces From the Past: More Ellington Buddies

Here are some more of Dad's classmates in the 52-05 navigator class at Ellington Air Force Base, Houston, Texas, August 12, 1951 to April 11, 1952:


I was not able to find much information about Joseph Howard "Joe" Daniel, whose home of record was Evanston, Illinois.  However, I did find a couple of articles that may explain the "Pretty Boy" nickname.  In late March, 1952, Daniel was a runner-up in a lottery to choose the escort for the Washington, DC, Cherry Blossom Festival queen that April.  He was one of eight cadets nominated by their commanding officers for the honor from the nation's eight cadet training bases.


Garfield George Thomas, Jr. was born January 12, 1928, in Carbondale, Pennsylvania, the only child of Garfield George Thomas, Sr. and Dorothea Rebecca Colwell Thomas.  After graduation from Carbondale High School, he attended Lehigh University and graduated with a B.S. degree in Business Administration in 1949.  He was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.  On April 26, 1952, he married Helen Brasso, and they had a son, a daughter, and five grandchildren.

While in Korea, Garfield served with the 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing.  Members of the “Blackbird” night photo squadron covered most of North Korea, taking night photos by using powerful flash bombs.  He also served in the Pennsylvania National Guard and the Air Force Reserves.

He had a 36-year career as an executive with the Ford Motor Company, 27 with the Ford Marketing Institute, in New York, Detroit and Atlanta. Upon retirement, he and Helen lived in Tucson, Arizona, until 2011.

Garfield was an active member and volunteer with many organizations, such as the Boy Scouts of America, the Arizona chapter of the Federation for North American Wild Sheep, his church, the Masons, and the Catalina Mountain Elks Lodge.  He was an avid outdoorsman, fly fisherman, and hunter.

Garfield died June 26, 2012, and is buried at the Canaan Corners Cemetery in Waymat, Pennsylvania.


Gene Wayne Ellinghouse was born September 14, 1930, in Missouri, the second son of Frank and Golden Ellinghouse.  The family can be found on the 1940 Census in Greenville, Missouri, which was Gene's home of record.  He attended Southeast Missouri State College in 1949.  His Air Force career had him stationed in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1955.  He also studied at the University of Missouri, and worked for Household Finance. He lived in St. Louis, Missouri, from at least 1993 to about 2000, and has lived in Titusville, Florida since then.


© Amanda Pape - 2014 - click here to e-mail me.

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