This is Chapter Eight of eight: where we conclude our family narrative moving through the 20th century and into the 21st. Thanks for paying attention and riding along with us.
Out of The Great Depression and Into World War II
Our Pop, Dean Phillip Bond, attended Shaw High School in East Cleveland and took a great deal of pride in the fact that the comic actor Bob Hope had also gone there. As teenagers, when we quizzed him about why he left school, he was always a bit hesitant, and there was never a direct answer. In researching this blog, we came across high school class pictures of him which we had never seen before. He appeared in group photos in 1937 and 1938. We thought he had left school in his sophomore year, but these were Junior and Senior year photos. Honestly, we’re not really sure what happened.
Senior B, Room 107. Dean is pictured in the upper right corner.
When he was a young adolescent, Pop was bitten by a mosquito, contracted the yellow fever virus, and got very sick. (A vaccine had yet to be developed, and later came into use in 1938). Unfortunately, the fevers resulted in partial deafness in his left ear.
When World War II came around, he was classified as 4F — not able to serve. This caused him a lot of shame and anxiety. He was determined to serve. He said that he went to a doctor and “got the problem fixed”. We know that he continued to have partial hearing problems throughout his life by the way he sometimes tilted his head to listen. So we are not sure how his medical problem was resolved to the satisfaction of the draft board.
We know that he served honorably in the Pacific Fleet on two destroyer escort ships, the U. S. S. Keith, DE-241 and the U. S. S. Oliver Mitchell DE-417.
Pop had different jobs on these ships, including being a fireman. He was reticent to share stories, but at one point he stated that Japanese planes were attacking his ship. He had to man the gun turret to fight them off, all the while being surrounded by bullets. His friend, next to him, died.
One job came late in the war when when it still seemed that Japan was not going to surrender. His job was to drive this flat-style of boat on to the beach, the sides would go down, and everyone would scramble to shore. We didn’t understand this role until seeing the opening scenes to the movie, Saving Private Ryan. The army and navy were training troops for an invasion of Japan. Fate intervened, and the atomic bombs were dropped, which brought about the end to the war in the Pacific.
Pop passed through Honolulu in the Hawaiian Territory several times. Once he was able to meet up with his younger brother Edward Lee who was also in the Navy. San Francisco [he called it Frisco] was a big hub for the war effort and he mentioned that he liked to go to The Top of The Mark in the Mark Hopkins Hotel on Nob Hill. (1)
A bottle of whiskey sits on the bar at the Top of Mark
Top of The Mark history, at the Mark Hopkins Hotel
in San Francisco. During WWII, servicemen would buy
and leave a bottle in the care of the bartender
so that the next soldier from their squadron could enjoy a free drink; the only requirement being whoever had the last sip
would buy the next bottle.
All It Took Was A White Flower
Our parents had a mutual attraction to each other. They talked about Mom being a waitress at the White Horse Inn in Cleveland during WWII. She was wearing a white flower in her hair and that caught his attention. Many years later, I asked her to write me (Thomas) a letter and tell me what that time was like for her. [The complete letter is in the footnotes]. Here is a partial transcription:
Nov. 1, 1981
My Dear Son Tom,
You asked for something and I shall try. The years have rolled away and I no longer feel I am on a threshold with all the tomorrows stretching ahead forever; instead I seem to wake each morning a little surprised and sometimes lay there and try to figure what day it is; a temporary vacuum — it will pass as all things do. Nature’s way perhaps of saying “get your act together” no one is going to do it for you.
It was June 1945. The guns had stopped in Europe, but they still blazed with fury in the Pacific. There had been three and a half years of furious warfare. My own life had gone through a raging battle. As in all battles there was no victor, only the process of rebuilding.
A sailor was home on leave from the Pacific, our paths crossed. An electrical charge passed between us. We had two weeks of fun, dancing-laughing — just fun. He left. A couple of letters, but both of us had been emotionally burned and very wary.
February 1946 — a knock on my door and there stood a sailor. The guns had stopped in the Pacific. The men were coming home.
June 1946. Your father and I were married in front of the fireplace at Grandma’s. Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and a handful of friends. A Happy Wedding.
The ensuing years had many ups and downs. I suppose I had always dreamed of being pampered and adored. It is a little hard to pamper a head strong, independent woman. Your father had always dreamed of having someone look up to him. It is hard to look up to a “Happy Irishman” when necessities are knocking at the door.
But, we have survived. We love our children and our home and we love each other, but probably neither of us will ever let the other really know.
Our Pop was the third son in the family, born at home in East Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio on August 15, 1919. He died on September 24, 1996 in Chardon, Geauga County, Ohio. Dean Phillip Bond married our mother Marguerite Lulu (Gore) Peterman on June 22, 1946 in Newbury, Geauga County, Ohio. She was born Marguerite Lulu Gore on August 15, 1912, in Russell, Geauga County, Ohio. She died on March 4, 1999, in Burton, Geauga County, Ohio.
Note: This marriage was the second marriage for Marguerite. For the details of her first marriage, please see the blog chapter The Peterman Line — A Narrative.
Together they had six children:
- Jo Ann (Peterman) Bond White, born May 9, 1939, in Bedford, Cuyahoga County, Ohio — died August 6, 2010, Chagrin Falls, Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Married Wayne Ronald White, October 5, 1958 — divorced November 16, 1977 - John Alfred (Peterman) Bond, born 1940
First Marriage: Marjorie Ann (Narusch) Bond, October 28, 1961 — divorced November 29, 1977. Second Marriage: Susanne (Ficht) Bond, July 17, 1987 - Susan Deanna Bond, born 1947
- Daniel Earl Bond, born 1950
Married Betty Jane Roberts, November 21, 1975 - Richard Dean Bond, born December 20, 1952, in East Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio — died May 15, 2022, in Ravenna, Portage County, Ohio
- Thomas Harley Bond, born 1958
Married Leandro José Oliveira Coutinho, June 26, 2008
of Dean and Marguerite, June 22, 1946. (Family photograph).
Dean Bond adopted both Jo Ann and John Alfred Peterman as his children. Their surnames changed from Peterman to Bond after the adoption was completed.
Dean Phillip Bond at various stages of his life. From left to right: Early 1920s, Early 1930s, Late 1940s, Summer 1979. (2)
Moving Around Until February 1957
Our parents did not have their own home for the first eleven years of their marriage. They spent almost all of their married life living in rural Geauga County, Ohio. The 1950 Federal Census locates them on Music Street, in Newbury township. Our brother John has recounted that he and Pop would climb up to the water cisterns for the house, and scrub them until they were very, very clean… because this was the water source for their home.
While their family continued to grow, they went back and forth between living with the Grandmothers: one time with Grandma Mary Bond in East Cleveland, Ohio and two other times with Grandma Lulu Gore in Newbury township. In 1956, ten years into their marriage, they started to build a home on the corner of the farm property owned by Grandma Lulu. It was an old orchard, filled with way past their prime apple trees and many briar bushes. All of that was cleared away, they broke land, and commenced to build. They moved in on February 1957. (Susan says that it was very exciting!)
Our mother described her 30s as being a period of great satisfaction because she and Dean had achieved much. Owning their own home made them particularly proud, and educating their children gave them great satisfaction. As with many other mid-century families — who had lived through the Great Depression and WWII — they found happiness in the stability and the freedom of choice which they could provide to their children. (3)
The Early Bird Catches the Worm
Pop spent many years working in the insurance industry (similar to his brothers Uncle Bob and Uncle Al.) During the Kennedy and Johnson eras, he worked at Sears Roebuck & Co., selling refrigerators and other large appliances. In those days, Sears was at its peak as a department store. It was fun to go to the Southgate Mall and open the refrigerators, looking at the fake food inside. Later in life, he worked as a machinist at Newbury Industries.
Mom spent some years at home with the kids, but around 1960, she went to work as the manager of the Executive Dining Room for the Lear Seigler Corporation. In 1964, she took a position at Kent State University and became their Manager of Banquet Sales. This was a position which she held until her retirement in 1986, having made many friends within the University. All six children attended/graduated from Kent State University. (4)
They Loved Having a Family
One thing that was very true about our family was that each child was viewed as an individual with their own interests. Our parents worked very hard with our various educations, sports, 4-H clubs, Boy Scouts… many of the things that other mid-century families did as part of their community involvement. In those days, airline flights were out of reach, so we traveled by car, visiting national parks and camping within the Midwest and the East Coast. Family reunions and birthday parties were never missed. These were busy years.
Various selected family photos —
Starting clockwise with the upper left photo: June 1980, Back row – Jo Ann, John, Daniel, and Susan. Front row – Richard, Mom, Thomas, and Pop. Right column top: Spring 1954, Left to right – John, Susan, Pop holding Richard, Jo Ann, Daniel. Middle – Pop at The Grill, circa 1950. Bottom – Summer 1962, Left to right – Pop, Thomas, Richard, Daniel on the lookout for the Blue Ridge Parkway. Left corner bottom – Duke and Rasha, circa 1982. Middle left – Easter 1954, Susan, Richard (with arms extended), and Daniel. (Family photographs). (5)
As the 20th Century Winds Down…
50 years to the day, and at the same location, with some of the same people present, Dean and Marguerite celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on June 22, 1996. Old friends and family members from several generations were there. Pop was in very ill, having had heart problems, as well as recently being diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. His mind was still sharp and he reveled in having achieved this moment. Three months later he died.
Mom, however, was another story. We had been noticing for years that her memory was slipping… slipping some more… then, slipping much more. She was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease, and had been living in assisted care after breaking her hip. It was both interesting and sad to watch how she changed over the years. It was like her life was a movie that had started to run backwards. She was good at acting like she knew you, but eventually she would slip up. What was weird was how this consciousness came and went… almost like the way a turtle peaks its head above the ocean waves and peers around. She could be in the present for a moment, and then she was gone somewhere into the depths of the past. She died in March 1999, of uterine cancer, but the Alzheimers had taken her away long before.
Our parents lived their lives completely bound by the arc of the 20th century. In many ways, their experiences were similar to others in their generation, but to us — they were quite simply, and uniquely, our parents. (6)
Now We Step Aside to Present the First James Bond 007
Television was a new and exciting invention in the 1950s. Throughout our history of The Bond Line, we have inserted cheeky asides featuring famous actors who have played 007. Quoting directly from the online article: James Bond (Barry Nelson)…
“James ‘Jimmy’ Bond appeared in the Climax episode ‘Casino Royale’, a television adaptation of Ian Fleming’s first novel which aired in 1954. Though this is regarded as the first onscreen appearance of the character James Bond, the character is an American agent with ‘Combined Intelligence’. He was portrayed by American actor Barry Nelson. (7)
Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials,
Notes, and Observations
Out of The Great Depression and Into World War II
(1) — six records
D Bond
in the U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/965258197:1265?tid=&pid=&queryId=35c3e6469233fb2b21ec490adae5be9d&_phsrc=EOk2&_phstart=successSource
Digital page: 48/152
Yellow fever vaccine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_fever_vaccine
Dean Phillip Bond
in the U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947
Ohio > Berik-Brahler > Bonaminio, Alberto-Bonhaus, Harry
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/199603501:2238?tid=&pid=&queryId=70197222adcf3145aa083a838456f92b&_phsrc=tZI1&_phstart=successSource
Digital page: 528/2227
Dean P Bond
in the U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949 U. S. S. Keith, DE-241
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/33825260:1143?tid=&pid=&queryId=b48ef695b271f4a936a3559886032a8c&_phsrc=vFr2&_phstart=successSource
Book page: 2, Digital page: 67/98
Dean P Bond
in the U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949 U. S. S. Oliver Mitchell DE-417
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/45422270:1143?tid=&pid=&queryId=b48ef695b271f4a936a3559886032a8c&_phsrc=vFr5&_phstart=successSource
Digital page: 15/46
The Orange County Register
Article: We’ll meet again at the “Top of the Mark”
https://www.ocregister.com/2009/05/22/well-meet-again-at-the-top-of-the-mark/
Note: These photos were taken on a trip to San Francisco, California in December 2022. The bottle on the right is from the present day, but the brand is known as Woodford Reserve Bourbon, which is a brand I created in the 1990s for the Brown-Forman Company. (Thomas)
All It Took Was A White Flower
(2) — nineteen records
November 1, 1981, personal letter from Marguerite Bond to her son,
Thomas Harley Bond
Note: Our Mother went to secretarial school for a brief time when she was a young, woman and she always claimed that learning “shorthand” ruined her writing. We could not disagree.
Here is a full transcription of the letter:
Nov. 1, 1981
My Dear Son Tom,
You asked for something and I shall try. The years have rolled away and I no longer feel I am on a threshold with all the tomorrows stretching ahead forever; instead I seem to wake each morning a little surprised and sometimes lay there and try to figure what day it is; a temporary vacuum — it will pass as all things do. Nature’s way perhaps of saying “get your act together” no one is going to do it for you.
It was June 1945. The guns had stopped in Europe, but they still blazed with fury in the Pacific. There had been three and a half years of furious warfare. My own life had gone through a raging battle. As in all battles there was no victor, only the process of rebuilding.
A sailor was home on leave from the Pacific, our paths crossed. An electrical charge passed between us. We had two weeks of fun, dancing-laughing — just fun. He left. A couple of letters, but both of us had been emotionally burned and very wary.
February 1946 — a knock on my door and there stood a sailor. The guns had stopped in the pacific. The men were coming home.
June 1946. Your father and I were married in front of the fireplace at Grandma’s. Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and a handful of friends. A Happy Wedding.
The ensuing years had many ups and downs. I suppose I had always dreamed of being pampered and adored. It is a little hard to pamper a head strong, independent woman. Your father had always dreamed of having someone look up to him. It is hard to look up to a “Happy Irishman” when necessities are knocking at the door.
But, we have survived. We love our children and our home and we love each other, but probably neither of us will ever let the other really know.
I feel a deep fulfillment in life. Gad gave me what I asked for. It wasn’t easy but no one ever said achieving was easy. Our home was always open to all, I can hear the footsteps, hear the laughter and the tears. See the dreams of each of our children building, some shattering, but it is always home. I know each of you have the tools to build your own lives and an inner strength to withstand the storms that will beat inevitably at your doors. And you have each other. Brothers and Sisters will never be alone.
I am a very private person. It is difficult to — impossible to share my inner being. As I grow older, I realize I am regressing into myself, but that is alright. It must be the way the Lord meant it. As the tomorrows come and go — accept — What I was born for has been achieved. God Bless you always Tom. You are very special. I rejoice in the world I have been permitted to share with you and I know when you have children you too will share, as generation passes into a fresh generation, but Love, the dominating force goes on forever. Mother
Jo Awhite
in the Ohio, U.S., Death Records, 1908-1932, 1938-2022
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/8822354:5763
Joann White
in the Ohio, U.S., Divorce Abstracts, 1962-1963, 1967-1971, 1973-2007
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/93176060:2026
Richard Dean Bond in the
U.S., Cemetery and Funeral Home Collection, 1847-Current
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/308822264:2190?tid=&pid=&queryId=579906553f7b188b1e8e83b9ab04753a&_phsrc=GgW5&_phstart=successSource
Richard Dean Bond in the
U.S., Cemetery and Funeral Home Collection, 1847-Current
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/308822264:2190?tid=&pid=&queryId=579906553f7b188b1e8e83b9ab04753a&_phsrc=GgW5&_phstart=successSource
Official Obituary of
Richard Dean Bond
December 20, 1952 – May 15, 2022 (age 69)
https://www.bestfunerals.com/obituary/RichardDean-Bond
Moving Around Until February 1957
(3) — two records
Dean P Bond
in the 1950 United States Federal Census
Ohio > Geauga > Newbury > 28-23
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/208113634:62308
Book page: 32, Digital page: 33/54, Entries 13 through 18.
Vintage Aerial
https://vintageaerial.com/photos/search?q=Newbury,+Ohio&ref=home-search
Note: The photo of the Bell Street home is circa 19
The Early Bird Catches the Worm
(4) — three records
Marguerite Bond
Photo by Lou Copeland, 1967.
Life Magazine
May 15, 1970
Volume 68, Number 18
https://books.google.com/books?id=mlUEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Note: You can scroll through the entire issue at this link:
Kent State University Seal
https://www.kent.edu/ucm/kent-state-university-seal
Kent State History: Digital Archive, 1970-1979
Kent Student Center Scene
https://omeka.library.kent.edu/special-collections/items/show/237
They Loved Having a Family
(5) — no records, family photographs and ephemera only
As the 20th Century Winds Down…
(6) — no records, family photographs and ephemera only
Marguerite L Bond
in the Ohio, U.S., Death Records, 1908-1932, 1938-2018
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/134310:5763?tid=&pid=&queryId=4404f0d13f01ed1fb0a5e97d79a54ea2&_phsrc=Pul2&_phstart=successSource
Now We Step Aside to Present the First James Bond 007
(7) — three records
Fandom
James Bond 007 Wiki
James Bond (Barry Nelson)
https://jamesbond.fandom.com/wiki/James_Bond_(Barry_Nelson)
James Bond Museum
Barry Nelson, the first actor to play James Bond onscreen…
https://www.007museum.com/Barry-Nelson.htm
YouTube.com
Climax! Casino Royale (TV-1954) JAMES BOND
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Casino+royale+barry+nelson
Our Ancestors, Our Narratives 