Thomas Ogden Lancaster (1920 - 2004)

Born 20 Jun 1920 in Delta City (formerly Catchings), Sharkey County, Mississippi, USA

Ancestors

Husband of Ruby Aveline (Stone) Lancaster — married 6 May 1944 in Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, USA

Died 27 Oct 2004 at age 84 in Waukegan, Lake County, Illinois, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Donna Lancaster [send private message]

Biography

SSGT Thomas Lancaster served in the United States Army Air Forces in World War II
Service started: 21 Oct 1941
Unit(s):
Service ended: 16 Nov 1945

Thomas Lancaster was born in Mississippi.

Thomas Ogden Lancaster was born on 20 June 1920 in Sharkey County, Mississippi, United States. He was the son of John Franklin Lancaster Sr (1889-1972) and his wife, Agnes Elizabeth (Chapman) Lancaster (1889-1973). He had five brothers and sisters, John Franklin, Jr., Ina Elizabeth, Billy Cooper, James Beecham, and Clifton.

Since money was tight with 6 kids in the family Thomas joined the Civilian Conservation Corps. until 1941 when he became a member of the Army Air Force. After basic training he was stationed at Eglin Field in Pensacola, Florida. He was nicknamed Reb and also Doc, for his time in the medical corps.

He first joined the medical corps (you will be spared the stories from this as they would make you queasy and they contributed to his next move) until a request for volunteers came up. He stepped forward not knowing what he was volunteering for as he wanted out of the medical corps and became one of the first deep sea divers in the AAF. Tom dove off a Navy boat. There was secret testing conducted at Eglin Field on such things as the “Bouncing Betty”, one of which bounced up and hit the plane it was dropped from causing the plane to crash. He was tasked with bringing back the remains of the pilot and crew on this crash and others. Tom had a few stories he would tell of his various dives. On one dive he had picked up a leg bone when he was startled because something was tugging on it. This was in the days of hard hat diving helmets with small porthole type areas to see out of so he had to bring the bone up and in front of the helmet to see what was trying to grab the bone from him. It turned out that there was still a bit of flesh attached to it and a hungry fish had latched on and was trying to lay claim to it. Another time he was on the boat and a plane flew close enough that he and the pilot locked eyes. He believed from the look on his face that the pilot purposely crashed his plane in order to commit suicide. Tom also talked about the conditions he had to dive under such as being lowered right into the middle of plane wreckage. He sweated that one out trying to avoid puncturing his air hose on the jagged metal. His and Ruby’s first child, Ron was born in the base hospital. Tom was mustered out in 1945 after the end of the war. He deeply enjoyed diving and would have stayed in Florida and continued it in some capacity but he had begun to blackout during dives and doctors could find no reason for it.

At this time he, his wife and son went back to the Mississippi delta and he settled into farming. Their second son, Bob, was born in 1947. When farming no longer afforded a livable income Tom went North where the jobs were. After a stint at Caterpillar and a couple of other businesses he settled in Zion, Illinois at the Warwick Company where he became a furniture refinisher and repairman. In 1953 he moved his tiny family there and eventually had a daughter, Donna.

Thomas O. Lancaster married Ruby Aveline Stone (1924-2011) on 6 May 1944 in Birmingham, Jefferson, Alabama, USA. The couple had at least 3 children (living, no further information).

Thomas O. Lancaster passed away in Waukegan, Lake County, Illinois, USA on 27 October 2004.

Sources

• FamilySearch Person: G381-DD1 Thomas Ogden Lancaster; cites 10 sources
• Personal recollection.
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/169710487/thomas-o-lancaster: accessed 03 January 2024), memorial page for Thomas O. Lancaster (20 Jun 1920–27 Oct 2004), Find a Grave Memorial ID 169710487, citing Mount Pleasant Methodist Church Cemetery, Tremont, Itawamba County, Mississippi, USA