Millis Students, Circa 1929
Do you recognize anyone in this photo?
By Theresa KnappAs Millis prepares to graduate another class of students, and as celebrates Memorial Day, a reader sent in this photo of her mother, Gladys Bonney Clewes Weeks (2nd row), and her father Sgt. Thomas M. Clewes (3rd row).
Gladys Bonney (1918-2016) was born in Millis on Feb. 6, 1918. She started school at age 4 when her brother Weston (2nd row) began; she graduated from Millis High School and then Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School by age 18. She ran the Ration Board in Medfield for the duration of World War II.
Gladys Bonney was married to Thomas Clewes, a veteran who died in World War II and has a memorial in Waites Park at the corner of Myrtle and Pleasant Streets.
Students in this photo include:
First row: Ruth Bandalin, Fern Lee, Florence Lebage, Harold Wambolt, Albina Yarish, Frank Holt, Dorothy Ferguson, Ed Gavin, Mary Clancy
Second row: John Harovitz, Helen Essefen, Augustus Moran, Doris Woodmansee, Wendall Coldwell, Mary Congdon, [unknown], Gladys Bonney, Weston Bonney, Rita Gilboy, Bill Purdy
Third row: Fred Ellis, OliveJane Mott, Thomas Clewes, Naomi Congdon, [unknown], Elizabeth Dineen, [unknown], Winifred Dilbert, Peter Leomti
Do you have stories related to these students? Do you recognize any of the unknowns? If so, please comment on our Facebook page @Medway & Millis Town News
SGT THOMAS M. CLEWES
Sgt. Thomas M. Clewes was a member of the 164th Infantry Regiment Americal Division, and was killed in action on January 1, 1944, Bougainville, South Pacific. Source: www.millislegion.org
Location: Waites Park at the corner of Myrtle Street and Pleasant Street
Decorations: Combat Infantry Badge, Bronze Star, Purple Heart
Brother of Ernie, Tommy was also a celebrated equestrian, who often rode with the Norfolk Hunt Club in Medfield. We remember the times he took our breath away by riding and jumping bareback. Graduated Millis High School in 1933. Good football player. Very personable and well liked. Caught in ambush, he was killed by a gunshot wound to the abdomen. His buddy Orlando Giallanardo, who was with him on the fatal patrol, says, “He was the bravest man I ever knew.” He left behind his wife Gladys and his daughter Bonny Jean. The Clewes brothers are buried side by side in the American Military Cemetery in Manila, The Philippines. Their monuments are also side-by-side in Waite Park in the Rockville section of Millis.
Source: http://www.millislegion.org/millis-memorials.html
