Notes for: Eleanor Bodine
From Ronny Bodine:
Eleanor Bodine was a 1936 graduate of Vassar College. James C. Fisher, M.D., a graduate of Swarthmore College and Harvard Medical School, was serving as a US Army Captain with the 6th Ranger Battalion, when he was killed in the Phillippines during World War II. Awarded the Silver Star, he was buried in Fort McKinley Cemetery, Manila, the Phillippines. The marriage of Thomas MacHia and Eleanor Bodine Fisher was announced in the New York "Times" of 9 Aug 1949. Thomas MacHia served as a U.S. Navy Ensign during World War II. Eleanor was with the American Red Cross in Europe and later was a director of the World Affairs Council in Philadelphia.
End of info.
From: jwendell222 at aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Subject: Thank You
Hello Dave, this note is by way of a 'thank you' for maintaining the Bodine site. I'm not a Bodine researcher, so some explanation is required. Between 1990 and 2004 I was a volunteer at the Southwest Division of the National Archives at Fort Worth. I worked in the genie research room, getting newcomers started, conducting workshops, etc., and of course, in slack times, doing my own research. By the late 90s the genie craze was settling down, the 1992 Census release of 1920 was old news, I was at the wall on all my lines, and quiet times at the archives were more frequent.
About this time I was grazing an antique mall and ran across a 1932 Springside yearbook. Springside is a private girls school in Philadelphia, what was likely referred to as a 'finishing school' at the time. The book had been the property of one Eleanor Bodine, and I bought it with the intention of doing some research on the 23 members of the graduating class and some of the faculty, just as an exercise. Eleanor, by the way, was class president, and had also been in 1928 and 1930. The class age, around 18, was well suited for research in 1920. As I recall, I found most of those I looked for, recorded some rolls and pages, but didn't make copies of the ledger pages.
One night last week I turned in about midnight, and at one was still wide awake, got up and was browsing my library when I noticed the Springside yearbook. Opened it and thought, the internet has come so far, lets Google Bodine. Hello Dave! But there's more. I noticed that her first husband James Canfield Fisher had died in 1945 and was buried in the Philippines, indicating military, WWII, so I Googled him.
I had seen John Dahl's film 'The Great Raid' shortly after it came out in 2005, but of course had no idea that I had Captain (Dr.) James Fisher's (played by Robert Mammone) wife's yearbook in my library. I've ordered the film from Netflix, and will pay more attention this time.
When I bought the yearbook, I remember wondering how it had come to settle in Fort Worth, and knew that I would never know, but both she and her second husband died here, mystery solved. Springside is still operating in Philladelphia, and runs a glossy web site.
Thanks again for maintaining the Bodine site, and best regards, ...Jim Wendell